Far From Home
by Bluebell Winter
Summary: Adriana Frost comes from a broken home. Her older brother was killed by a hag, her father's in Azkaban, and her mother hates her. When Adriana gets to Hogwarts, she keeps her secrets, makes friends and maybe even finds a family in them. However, long-hidden secrets always has a way of coming to light. Not HP/OC. Year 1.
1. Prologue

A/N: I was hoping to shake things up a bit with an OC being in the Wizarding World. It's not going to be Harry/OC. It's going to be OC/OC, but I'm sure she will get together with a canon character; I'm just not sure who it will be yet.

The face-claim for Adriana is Ariana Grande.

 **Warnings:** Death and Psychological Abuse

* * *

 _"I feel like running away,  
_ _I'm so far from home,  
_ _You say that I'll never change,  
But w_ _hat the hell do you know?"_

Remember Everything – Five Finger Death Punch

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

January 1, 1980 10:00 A.M.

Finn Frost looked down at his newborn sleeping daughter, bundled up in a pink blanket, in his arms. His heart seemed to swell with pride at the sight of her. A St Mungo's Healer walked up to Finn and smiled down at him.

"What do you want to name her?" the Healer asked.

Finn looked at his wife, Beatrix. "Honey, what do you think her name should be?"

Beatrix was still weak from the birth, scowled at the newborn baby in Finn's arms, as if the baby somehow offended her. Finn held his daughter closer to his chest, as if he can protect her from Beatrix's eyes. Beatrix looked at Finn with disgust, "You can name her." She rolled over on her side, her back facing Finn and her daughter.

Finn was taken aback and looked down at his daughter. He thought about a list of names. They had wanted the gender to be a surprise, so a name wasn't picked out. He thought about his former close friend, back before she had died by the hands of Death Eaters by Bellatrix Lestrange and You-Know-Who. She had put up a fight, but she had been overpowered. He looked down at his daughter and said, "Adriana." He looked at Beatrix and then back down at his daughter, "Liliana." He smiled, "Adriana Liliana Frost."

"You're naming _her_ after my mother?" Beatrix asked, sounding angry.

Finn wasn't entirely sure why Beatrix was acting like that, but he nodded. "It's tradition. I don't want to break tradition, Beatrix. You know how my family is big on keeping tradition."

"Can't you name _her_ after _your_ mother?" Beatrix demanded, sounding angry. The Healer walked out of the room, leaving the married couple alone with their daughter, because she didn't want to get into that mess.

"That's not how it works," Finn said. "You know that. It's your family tradition after all."

Beatrix looked even more disgusted, "Fine. Whatever. You take care of her."

"What did she do that's wrong?" Finn asked.

"Never mind," Beatrix said, waving a hand. "It's complicated."

Finn looked back at his daughter, who opened her eyes, and stared up at Finn. Finn smiled at her, "Hello, Adriana Liliana Frost. Welcome to the world."

* * *

December 30, 1985

"Here you go, Adriana." Finn said, handing his five-year-old daughter a red leather-bound journal that was filled with parchment paper.

"Thanks," Adriana said, taking the journal. "You know my birthday's on the first."

"I know, but I wanted to see you smile," Finn said. Adriana stared at him. "After that fight your mum and I had." His blood was boiling at the _reason_ why they had it.

"Oh," Adriana said. She was five-years-old and she rarely smiled. It wasn't normal. Especially what his hag of a wife was doing to her. He wasn't an idiot. He saw how Beatrix treated Adriana. She scolded and insulted Adriana over the smallest thing. That's why he got her figurines from Diagon Alley and generally tried to spent time with her, but he had his job at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, to go to. It was hard to make up for the lack of affection Beatrix was showing Adriana. He could tell that Ryan was jealous, but he had Beatrix's affection.

Finn hugged her, "Can you smile, just for me?" Adriana gave him a smile, which looked a little forced. "Okay, I'll see you later."

"Goodbye, Daddy," Adriana said.

Finn smiled, "Goodbye, Adriana. I love you."

"I love you, too," Adriana said.

Finn walked out the door.

Adriana went to her room and sat down at the desk. She pulled out a quill and an inkwell.

She uncorked it and dipped the quill in the ink. She opened the journal to the first page. She wrote her name on the page and turned the page. She thought about what she was going to write and wrote:

 _December 30, 1985  
3:20 P.M._

 _My dad gave me this journal early, because he said he wanted to see me smile, especially after the fight that he and Mother had._

 _I have no one to talk to besides you._

 _So, it's just me and you journal._

 _Welcome to my pathetic life._

 _—_ _A.F._

She closed the journal and looked at the unicorn figurines on her desk. A silver unicorn was standing on its hind-legs and kicking it front hooves in the air, before putting them on the ground. It did that motion again and again.

She couldn't help but smile at it. She wondered if her dad was going to bring home another figurine for her.

She didn't know that was going to be the last time she would ever see her dad.

Five hours later, when Beatrix got the news, she had said to Adriana, "You caused your father to leave, you ungrateful little troll." It was the first time that Beatrix had brought Adriana to tears.

* * *

July 12, 1988

Eight-year-old Adriana was still up, writing in the leather bound journal by candlelight.

 _July 12_ _th_ _, 1988  
10:58 p.m._

 _I wonder if Ryan notices how much our mother hates me. He must've noticed how much attention and compliments she gives him, but she ignores and insults me. There are times when it seems like he notices how unfair things are. Like last year, when we went to get Hogwarts supplies, we were at the ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley_

The door creaked open and Adriana slammed the journal close. Her older brother, Ryan, who was going to turn thirteen in two hours, walked in. He seemed surprised to see that she was still up.

"Hey, Addy, you have to see this," Ryan said. "Come on."

Adriana looked at him, "I have to go to bed, Ryan."

"But you have to see this," Ryan said.

"What is it?" Adriana asked.

"Put on your shoes and I will show you," Ryan said.

Adriana shook her head, "We can't go outside."

"Mum hasn't found out. Yet," Ryan countered.

Adriana rolled her eyes at that. "Mother always turns a blind-eye when it comes to you, Ryan." In a bitter tone, she added, "You can do no wrong in her eyes."

"Oh, come off it, Addy, you know she doesn't," Ryan said.

"Name one thing that she got after you on," Adriana challenged. Ryan thought about it. It must've taken a while because Adriana laughed, "You proved me right."

"Shut up," Ryan said, "I'm thinking." He looked at Adriana, "While I'm thinking, put on your shoes and let's go."

Adriana set the journal aside and went to find her shoes. She found them and put them on. She muttered, "I'm going to get in so much trouble."

"So?" Ryan replied, nonchalantly.

Adriana refrained from saying that she didn't want to have her mother go on another one of her verbal tirades. She knew that her mother would say the usual: "You're a disappointment," "You're an embarrassment," "You can't follow simple orders," and "you never listen…" along with others, for hours on end.

They left the manor and Adriana stared up at the night sky. It was a breath-taking sight, seeing the stars sprinkled onto the velvet black backdrop of the night sky. Some part of her wanted to run back in the manor and go to bed. Their mother would know that they had left the manor. She always found out somehow. She always knew when Adriana and Ryan were getting to rowdy and they accidentally knock over something breakable, which resulted in Ryan using magic to repair what broke. However, Beatrix always blamed Adriana for it.

Ryan led her to the woods. They had moved into the manor out in the woods a few weeks after Adriana's sixth birthday. Adriana knew that it was because her father had murdered two Muggles, a few days after her sixth birthday. Adriana's and Ryan's mother, Beatrix, made sure that Adriana knew; after all, like father, like daughter. Adriana didn't get it, because she didn't own a wand and she didn't know any spells to kill two Muggles.

"Hurry up, slow-poke," Ryan snapped, bringing Adriana out of her thoughts.

She hurried up to her older brother and they started walking through the woods. After a bit, Adriana said, "Let's go home."

"Be quiet," Ryan said.

"Mum would know that we're out of bed," Adriana said.

"No, she won't," Ryan said, sounding like he was getting angry.

"She would know," Adriana said.

"Would you shut up?" Ryan snapped at her.

"Why is Mum ashamed of me?" Adriana asked. "Or who is she more ashamed of, me or Dad?"

Ryan seemed stunned at what Adriana asked.

She wasn't lying. Yesterday, their mother, Beatrix, told Adriana that she was ashamed of Adriana. The day before that, Beatrix said that Adriana couldn't make a bed correctly. The day before that, Betrix said that Adriana was a disappointment and a failure, and last week, Beatrix had looked Adriana in the eye and told her that Adriana wasn't going to make anything of herself and that she was going to go nowhere in life. Adriana was sure the 'except Azkaban' was implied after Beatrix's statement.

"What did you do to get Mum to say she loves you?" Adriana asked, looking at Ryan.

She wondered why Beatrix lavished Ryan with compliments like how he made her so proud and that Ryan was going to be a great wizard someday? What did Ryan do to get their mother to tell him that she loved him while Adriana got death-glares instead?

Why was it that when Adriana used her mother's wand to make a shrub of colourful roses outside their house, Beatrix just looked disgusted and told Adriana that she can do better; yet when Ryan made one rose appear, not as red and big like Adriana's, Beatrix said that she was so proud of him? Why did Ryan get a lot of birthday and Christmas parents, while Adriana got one very used book on her birthdays and Christmas?

Why did Ryan get cakes and fairy-cakes for his birthday, while Adriana never received anything like that for her birthday? Why did her father kill two Muggles? How come their mother doesn't want Adriana to write to her dad? Where were they going? What did Ryan want to show her? What was so important that he had to drag her out of the bed at eleven at night? Why did she want to run away from the manor?

They kept walking, occasionally Adriana tripped on a branch or tripped in a hole, but they eventually made it to a cave.

Adriana was in disbelief and looked at her older brother in disbelief. "That's it? You wanted to show me a cave?"

"It's not the cave that I wanted to show you," Ryan said. "It's what's on the inside of it."

"It better be worth it," Adriana muttered.

Ryan asked, "What was that?"

"Nothing," Adriana replied, a little too quickly.

They walked up to the cave, but there was another person in there. It looked to be a very warty-faced woman, who was wearing no shoes, and wearing a plain looking black dress. She was hanging up silks and tapestries on the cave wall and humming to herself, so she didn't notice two children.

"I think someone moved in your cave, Ryan," Adriana said, grinning. She noticed that one tapestry that was hung was, had a picture of what looked to be a cauldron bubbling with green potion, a small pile of skulls on the side, and a bookcase filled with books. That was slightly unsettling to see.

Ryan walked up to the mouth of the cave, "Hey!"

The woman turned and smiled at them, revealing crooked teeth. "My, my, my. I never had…children willingly come up to me before."

Adriana got a sick feeling at what she said. She felt that something was wrong.

"I just wanted to show her something that's inside the cave," Ryan said. "Can we please walk by?"

"Let's go," Adriana said, grabbing Ryan's arm. She pulled on his arm, feeling uneasy.

"No, I discovered this cave first." Ryan said, yanking his arm out of Adriana's grasp and walked in the cave.

"Ryan…" Adriana trailed off and followed after him.

"I'm going to show you what it is that I found in here," Ryan said as he led Adriana right into the cave.

The woman made an inhuman shriek, and grabbed Adriana's arm as the eight-year-old walked by. The woman squeezed Adriana's arm a few times, "To scrawny to eat."

Adriana felt cold all over because she realized that the woman was a hag. Her mother was right, she was stupid. She didn't recognize a hag, even when one was standing right in front of her. How could she be so stupid to make a mistake like this?

Ryan was now pointing his wand at the hag and he ordered, "Release my sister."

The hag released Adriana's arm and hissed at Ryan.

"Run, Addy!" Ryan ordered as the hag lunged at him. The two fell on the ground.

Adriana stood there, frozen. It was an order and Adriana always followed orders, mostly to please their mother, but she couldn't move.

"Run!" Ryan ordered again as he and the hag rolled around on the cave floor, grappling at each other. "And don't look back or stop!"

Adriana couldn't leave her brother like that.

" _Run! Don't look back or stop!_ " Ryan ordered.

Adriana turned and ran. She wasn't sure how long she ran, but she didn't stop running until she got to the manor. She made it to the door right as it opened. Beatrix was stepping out, looking worried.

Beatrix looked at Adriana, "Where's Ryan?"

Adriana was breathing heavily and feeling very sweaty. Through gasps, Adriana explained the situation with the hag.

Beatrix now looked even more worried. "Go get the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I don't need you getting in my way." She ran off into the wood and Adriana went inside the manor. She went to the fireplace and grabbed some Floo powder from the fireplace.

She threw the powder in and yelled, "Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

* * *

After that, it was all a blur. All Adriana remembered was being questioned again and again by different people. They seemed to ask the same questions over and over, like: "What happened?"

"Tells us once again, what did the witch look like?", "What were you two doing out of bed at this time of night?", and "Did your brother always go to that cave at this time of night?"

Adriana was sitting in the family room, staring into the fireplace, at the smoldering ash, feeling like she was in some sort of shock.

Daylight was coming when Beatrix entered the room, looking pale and…to Adriana's confusion, angry.

Adriana felt sick to her stomach as she started to ask, "Is he—?"

She was cut off when Beatrix gave the eight-year-old the most hate-filled and disgusted look that Adriana had never seen before. Beatrix snarled, "The wrong child died in that cave."

Adriana burst into tears and ran for her room. Before Adriana slammed the door shut, Beatrix shouted, "You don't deserve to cry! You killed your brother!"

* * *

Two days later, there was a funeral that Adriana wasn't allowed to go to, because Beatrix said, "Sisters who got their brothers killed aren't allowed to attend their funerals."

After the funeral, an article appeared in the Daily Prophet titled:

 **Tragedy Strikes the Frost Family**

The article stated that the casket was empty as it was buried in the afternoon. According to Rita Skeeter, Adriana, whose name was butchered because it was spelled: 'Addrianna.' Apparently Adriana had stayed behind in the manor, not even caring about how she caused the death of Ryan, whose name was spelled correctly, because she stood by and allowed the hag to kill her brother. According to Rita Skeeter, Beatrix was a sobbing wreck, who claims that Adriana was a problematic girl who sneaks out of the house at night and frequently engaged in delinquent Muggle behaviour.

According to the article, Beatrix was a brave woman who had shouldered the weight of her beloved husband going to Azkaban from being framed over the killing of two Muggles, and now she was a grieving mother who lost her dearest son to her problematic daughter, and now has to handle the problematic girl on her own, without help from Ryan, who helped by trying to control Adriana.

On the front page, there was a picture of Beatrix, with her hands covering her face. Her shoulders were shaking and Adriana crumbled it up. Of course Beatrix would paint herself as a victim to the reporters and talk crap about Adriana by making her out to a delinquent.

The eight-year-old crumpled the Daily Prophet into a ball and threw it into the fire.

The newspaper burned very quickly and it made Adriana feel a lot better than she had in three days.

* * *

 _July 20, 1988  
2:43 p.m._

 _List of Crimes:_

 _1)_ _Murder  
_ _2)_ _Laziness  
_ _3)_ _Stupidity  
_ _4)_ _Worthlessness  
_ _5)_ _Weak  
_ _6)_ _Pathetic  
_ _7)_ _Useless  
_ _8) Ungratefulness_

Adriana set the quill aside and closed her journal with a sigh. It just one more thing that she had to add to the list of crimes that she committed.


	2. Diagon Alley

A/N: To the guest reviewer, no I am not Alice-Lydia-Frost.

* * *

Chapter 1: **Diagon Alley**

* * *

On Adriana's eleventh birthday, on New Year's Day, she sat in the kitchen eating a bowl of porridge. The family house-elf, Teagan, was washing the dishes that Adriana had made when she had made herself breakfast.

Over the three years after Ryan's death, Adriana and Beatrix's relationship had gotten even more distant and colder, which Adriana thought seemed impossible, but it did.

Ryan's room had been closed off, left as it was before Ryan's death. Adriana and Teagan were forbidden to go in there, and they both followed orders. Adriana did it because she wanted her mother's approval, and Teagan did it, because it was in her nature.

Teagan never spoke; at least, Adriana hadn't heard her talk. For all she knew, Teagan could've spoken to Beatrix when Adriana wasn't around.

After Ryan had died, Beatrix still blamed Adriana for it. The used books for her birthdays and Christmas had stopped coming after Ryan's death. "Murderers don't deserve presents," Beatrix had hissed at Adriana, when she had asked. "Evil protects their own. You should've died instead."

Adriana believed it. She could've helped Ryan instead of running away. She could've found a stick and hit the hag with it. She could've found a rock, but she turned and ran. She was a coward. She—

Had an official looking owl, with an envelope attached to its leg, headed straight for the window.

Teagan quickly went to the window and opened it, before going back to finish the dishes. The official looking brown owl swooped in and landed right on the table. It held out its leg and Adriana went to untie the letter from it. The envelope was thick and made out of yellowish parchment. It was addressed to her in emerald green ink:

 **Miss A. Frost  
The Smallest Bedroom  
Frost Manor**

Adriana didn't bother reading the rest of the address and popped the seal wax, which was a coat of arms that consisted of a lion, badger, eagle, and a serpent. Her heart was beating rapidly and her hands shook as she removed the contents of the letter. A few pieces of parchment nearly fell as she looked through the contents and finally found the letter.

 **HOGWARTS SCHOOL**  
 **OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY**

 **Headmaster:** Albus Dumbledore

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_  
 _Supreme Mugwump, Internation Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Miss Frost,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_  
 _Deputy Headmistress_

Adriana couldn't stop the wide grin that was forming. She was going to Hogwarts! She was finally getting away from her mother…

Her mother…

Her mother probably wouldn't allow her to go, because she would think that Adriana doesn't deserve such happiness, because murderers don't deserve happiness. Adriana wilted at that.

She could picture Beatrix writing out a letter explaining why she wasn't allowing Adriana to go to Hogwarts. But would Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall allow that as an excuse? Not if Beatrix had any say in the matter and she would get her way.

This was the greatest birthday present she ever received and she wasn't going to go to Hogwarts. She might as well take out some parchment and write her own letter stating why she wasn't going to go.

She sighed and got up from the table. She started looking through the drawers to find some parchment, a quill, and an ink-well. She found the supplies and set them out on the table. She dipped the quill in the ink and wrote: _Dear Albus Dumbledore,_

She stopped writing and wondered how she was going to explain the situation.

 _I regret to inform you that I will not be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year._

What reasoning did she need to write? ' _I had killed my brother because I ran away while he got attacked by a hag. Therefore I don't deserve such happiness and freedom._ ' That didn't seem logical and they might not accept that reasoning.

Beatrix walked in the kitchen and walked past Adriana. To the house-elf, she said, "Teagan, bring me my favourite mug, please."

Teagan stopped what she was doing and went to fetch Beatrix's mug from the cupboard.

"Hey, Mum, I need your help on writing out my letter on why I can't attend Hogwarts this year," Adriana said, looking at her parchment.

"You're an idiot, Adriana," Beatrix said, "you're attending." She went and poured herself some coffee.

Adriana stared at her mother in disbelief, wondering if it was some type of joke? Her mother said that she would allow Adriana to attend Hogwarts. "But…but I don't deserve to go…"

Beatrix sighed, "You're going because Teagan and I are tired of dealing with you. Let them put up with you for ten months. You're probably going to get expelled anyway."

Adriana was too excited at the prospect of going to Hogwarts, that she ignored that jab. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you, for allowing me to go to Hogwarts!" She would've hugged her mother, but she didn't. Her mother would've taken away the Hogwarts thing if Adriana hugged her. "Are we getting my supplies after you eat? This is going to be the best birthday ever!"

"No," Beatrix said in a monotone.

"What?" Adriana asked confused. The happiness had faded at the word.

"We're not getting your supplies today," Beatrix said in a clipped tone.

Adriana asked, "Why not?" Why didn't Beatrix want to go get her supplies?

"We're going to go over the summer," Beatrix stated and turned away from Adriana.

The subject was closed and the eleven-year-old knew better than to keep talking about it. She went to sit back down and decided to keep the parchment, just in case Beatrix changed her mind on Adriana going to Hogwarts.

The unhappy birthday girl looked through the contents of the envelope to see that there was a train ticket for the Hogwarts Express, which leaves at eleven and looked at the school supply list.

 **HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT  
** **AND WIZARDRY**

Uniform:

First-year students will require:

 _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
_ _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
_ _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
_ _4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

Set Books:

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk  
 _A History of Magic_ by Bathlida Bagshot  
 _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by Adalbert Waffling  
 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Emeric Switch  
 _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Phyllida Spore  
 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander  
 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment:

 _1 Wand  
_ _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
_ 1 _set glass or crystal phials  
_ _1 telescope  
_ _1 set brass_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

Adriana knew that bringing a pet was out of the question, because her mother would say something like, "You killed your brother. You'll kill a pet, as well."

Adriana hoped that if she did well at Hogwarts, her mother would finally be proud of her, but she didn't think it would. Her mother allowing her to go to Hogwarts was the best present that she had ever received.

* * *

On the morning of July 31st, Teagan woke Adriana up. Adriana had thoughts running through her head, all of which sounded like her mother scolding her.

 _You're no good. You're pathetic. You're weak. You're useless. You're a disappointment. You're a murderer. You're a murderer. You're a murderer. Murderer. Murderer._

 _I want to run away._

 _I wish I was—_

 _Mum didn't give me away after giving birth to me. Mum didn't—_

She sat up and rubbed her face, and muttered 'thank you' to the now leaving house-elf, who nodded back at her in acknowledgement. Adriana peeled the frayed, crinkled, smudged Hogwarts supply list off her face, which she had been rereading repeatedly last night. It had been her nightly ritual every since she got it, and she was sure that she had it memorized.

 _I wish I was—_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _1 wand_  
 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_  
 _1 set glass or crystal phials_

She always fought off the terrible thoughts with good things. She got up and got dressed. She ran a brush through her brown hair and deemed it presentable enough, even though her mother would be disgusted by the sight anyway. She grabbed one of the used books that she had received from a previous birthday or Christmas and went downstairs to make herself something to eat. Her mother had stopped making her food when she was seven.

She made herself some porridge and sat down at the table and spooned sugar on her porridge before eating. She looked at the book. The pages were stained and there were pages missing. The cover had fallen off. An owl swooped in through the window and landed on the owl perch. There was letters tied to its leg. Adriana removed the letters and set them down on the table.

She was halfway through eating when Beatrix entered the kitchen. Adriana said, "Good morning, Mum. Did you have a good night's rest?"

"No," Beatrix snapped out.

Adriana looked down. Even being polite to her mother made Beatrix angry. The weeks following the anniversary of Ryan's passing were hard on them all. It was especially hard on Beatrix because the wrong child died on July 13th. Adriana felt way to guilt-ridden about it. The first anniversary of Ryan's death, Beatrix had yelled at a sobbing Adriana, "Why are you crying? Murderers don't cry over their victim! You don't deserve to cry over him!" So, Adriana tried not to cry during the anniversaries.

She looked at her mother. Beatrix was a tall, white woman with brown hair pulled in a tight bun. She had bags under her eyes, from lack of sleep. She worked at the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable. Adriana didn't know what Beatrix did as an Unspeakable.

Adriana was short being 5'3 and had lightly tanned skin, which can be mistaken for white. From what little she knew of her or even remembered, her dad had been white. Ryan was also white. Once Adriana asked Beatrix about it, Beatrix responded that Adriana's grandmother, Liliana is Italian, so Adriana received the light tan skin. She had brown eyes, brown hair, and a narrow face. Beatrix told Adriana to never speak about her family tree, so Adriana didn't, because she wasn't sure who she was supposed to talk to. She continued to eat as Beatrix started looking through the letters.

"I have decided that we can get your school supplies today," Beatrix started.

Adriana almost choked on her toast in surprise and nodded, "Okay." It took eight months for Beatrix to decide that now was a good time to get school supplies?

Beatrix set the letters down and looked at Adriana, "Well?"

Adriana looked at Beatrix, "Yes?" She added, "Mother?"

"Aren't you going to get ready?" Beatrix asked, sounding exhausted, as if speaking to her daughter was a chore that she really hated to do.

"Oh," Adriana replied, got up, and ran to her room. She grabbed the supply list, crammed it into a shoulder bag, and ran the brush through her hair again. She went back to the kitchen.

Beatrix was drinking something from a mug and she narrowed her eyes at Adriana. She set the mug down and headed into the family room. Adriana followed after her.

Beatrix grabbed a purse and took some Floo Powder from a jar. She threw it into the fireplace, causing emerald green flames to rise up. "Diagon Alley!" She strode into the fireplace as if she had something better to do than spend an entire day with her daughter.

Adriana grabbed some Floo Powder and threw it into the fireplace as well. "Diagon Alley!" She walked in, keeping her elbows tucked in. Fireplaces were spinning and Adriana found the one that led to the Leaky Cauldron. She went to it and emerged in the grubby-looking pub. Beatrix wasn't waiting for her there and Adriana almost sighed.

When she had gone with Ryan and their mother to the Leaky Cauldron to get Ryan's school supplies, Beatrix waited for Ryan as he emerged from the fireplace.

"She went in the courtyard," the bartender, Tom, said to Adriana. He looked sympathetic.

"Thank you," Adriana said and went to the small, walled courtyard.

Beatrix was tapping her foot and looking at her watch in an impatient manner, even though it couldn't have been more than two minutes. She took out her wand. She tapped the brick that was three up and two across from the rubbish bin, three times. The brick quivered and wiggled. A small hole appeared in the brick and then expanded, making an archway. There was a cobbled street that wound out of sight.

Beatrix marched through the archway and Adriana followed after. They walked and walked until they finally made it to the nearest shop, Potage's Cauldron Shop. There was a stack of cauldrons outside the shop and a sign hung over them. Cauldrons—All Sizes—Coopers, Brass, Pewter, Silver—Self-Stirring—Collapsible.

They started heading to Gringotts, a white, crooked building that stood tall above the other shops. They passed Slug & Jiggers Apothecary and Eeylops Owl Emporium that sold Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy owls.

They walked past Quality Quidditch Supplies, a shop that was selling the Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick, which was supposedly the fastest one yet.

They passed Madam Malkin's and Adriana wouldn't be surprised if Beatrix left her behind when she got fitted for her robes.

They reached Gringotts and climbed up the white stone steps. They walked the goblin who bowed to them as they walked through the burnished bronze doors and then past the silver doors. They walked through the vast marble hall. There were about a hundred more goblins sitting on high stools behind a large counter. Some were writing in ledgers, some were weighting coins in brass scales, and some examined precious stones through eyeglasses.

Beatrix went up the free goblin. "I came to take some money from the Frost Vault."

"Do you have the key, ma'am?" the goblin asked.

Beatrix held up a key and passed it to the goblin. The goblin examined it, "That seems to be in order. I will have someone take you down to the vault. Gornuk!"

Another goblin appeared and they followed after Gornuk through a door. They entered a narrow stone room that had little railway tracks on the ground and was lit with flaming torches. It sloped downward.

Gornuk whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in and Adriana stayed close to the goblin, in case Beatrix decided to "accidentally" shove Adriana over the edge of the cart.

They hurtled threw a maze of passageways. They passed through a passage and Adriana saw a burst of fire from a dragon. She could've sworn she saw a giant man in one of the carts go through the middle fork as Adriana, Beatrix, and Gornuk went past the left fork.

The cart finally stopped in a cold, dreary section. They got out of the cart, even though for a few moments, Adriana's legs were trembling so badly, that she thought she might fall down. She grabbed onto the cart because if she fell, her mother would look back and shake her head in a disappointed way and say, 'Why can't you do something as simple as standing?'

Adriana went to Gornuk and her mother. Gornuk ran his finger down the stone wall, which split in half, by sliding away from each other. There was a clear space which held their money. If anyone but a Gringotts goblin did that, they would be sucked into the vault and trapped.

They walked in the vault, which was filled with ten large piles of gold Galleons, stacks of silver Sickles, and a small pile of Knuts.

From what Adriana knew, her family inherited that much money, because Adriana's grandmothers lost their husbands in bizarre circumstances, inheriting their small fortunes, and making a giant fortune. Adriana was sure that one of her great-grandmothers had worked at the Ministry as a Minister, but for a short time—two or three days—Adriana couldn't remember the number. She knew that one law had been sent in asking that wands should have a strap attached to the wrists and that Muggle music should be integrated into the wizarding society. It was a stunning moment, considering that a pure-blood witch had suggested the Muggle music.

Yeah, Adriana came from pure-bloods. She also knew that one of her great-grandmothers had also been Headmistress at Hogwarts, for two weeks, before she was removed and Professor Dippet had replaced her.

Adriana stuffed a handful of Galleons, Sickles, and few Knuts, into a leather pouch. She wanted some extra spending money; just in case her mother decided to treat her, which she doubted, by getting ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, just like the past two years when Ryan had been attending Hogwarts. Although Adriana didn't have any ice cream, because Beatrix suddenly spent all she had. Ryan had been kind of enough to offer to share his ice cream with her, which caused Beatrix to glare at Adriana, so she had to decline. She had to watch her mother and brother eat ice cream in front of her. When Beatrix was distracted, Ryan allowed Adriana to snag bites.

After gathering the money and getting in the cart, they were on their way back.

They stepped out into sunlight, causing Adriana to blink at the sudden brightness. She took out her supply list and looked at it. _What should I get first, my books, equipment, or uniform? Wait, how selfish of me, I should be asking Mother first._ She looked at Beatrix, "What should we get first?"

Beatrix took the list out of Adriana's hand, looked at it, and made a very disgusted face. "This is disgusting. How can we even read it?"

"I can still read it," Adriana whispered. She even had it memorized, but she knew her mother wouldn't be proud of that.

Beatrix looked even more disgusted, "Whatever. We're on a very tight schedule. You choose."

Adriana looked at the supplies. "Let's get my books first." She couldn't help but sound excited because she was finally doing this.

They went to Flourish and Blotts, when Beatrix stopped before Adriana can enter the store. Beatrix demanded, "What are you doing?"

"Going to get my books," Adriana reminded her, feeling confused.

"No, we're heading to Potage's Cauldron Shop," Beatrix said very slowly and sounding very impatient.

"No, we're not!" Adriana said, feeling angry at getting her decision taken away. "You told me to pick where to go first and I decided on getting my books! _You_ can wait out here if _you_ want!"

Beatrix looked stunned and sputtered incoherently, before saying, "Don't you ever—"

Adriana walked inside the shop, the door closing on the rest of Beatrix's sentence. She wanted to run back out and apologize for…what exactly? Standing up for herself for once? It actually felt really good to stand up for herself. But…what if that was what made Beatrix decide on not allowing her to go to Hogwarts? She was going to get her books before she can lose her nerve.

There were bookshelves stacked to the ceiling. There were books as large as paving stones bound in leather. There books the size of postage stamps in silk covers. Adriana knew that some books had runes and strange symbols in them. There were books that had nothing written in them and some were probably written in invisible ink.

There were books written on almost every subject. She walked past a shelf that was displaying Gilderoy Lockhart's books. Lockhart was a blond man with light blue eyes. She was sure that he won some award in _Witch Weekly_ six times.

Adriana got the books she needed and paid for them. She went outside to see that her mother was standing there, looking through some parchment. She bowed her head when she walked up to Beatrix, "I am terribly sorry for my…attitude, Mother. I do hope you will ever find it in your heart to forgive me."

"If you allow me to pick where to go for the rest of the morning, I _might_ forgive you," Beatrix said in a clipped tone.

 _No, you won't_ , Adriana thought and replied, "Yes, Mother, as you wish." Beatrix started to heading down to Potage's Cauldron Shop, with Adriana trailing behind, upset with herself. She didn't do anything wrong other than standing up for herself, yet why did she feel like she did something wrong? She almost bumped into someone. She looked up at him, to see that he was holding two chocolate and raspberry ice-creams with nuts. She said, "Sorry, sir."

The man had long, shaggy hair and a wild, tangled mane of a beard, which hid his face. Despite the hair, it was easy to spot beetle-black eyes. He seemed to smile at her, at least, she was sure he smiled at her. It was hard to tell. He replied, "'S okay."

Adriana gave a small smile to acknowledge his reply and continued walking and hurried up to Beatrix, before she kept her mother waiting. After getting her cauldron, they headed over to Scribbulus Writing Implements, where she got rolls of parchment and neon green Fwooper quills. They went to Ollivanders.

Adriana couldn't help but feel excited about getting her wand. She looked back at her mum, wondering if she was going to go in with her, but Beatrix stayed where she was, by looking through her purse again. She rolled her eyes because Beatrix had gone inside Ollivanders when Ryan got his wand, then again, Beatrix allowed Ryan to choose wherever he wanted to go first. She walked in the shop where a bell dinged from somewhere within. It was tiny inside and empty, except for a spindly chair and the narrow boxes of wands that were piled high to the ceiling. She felt as if she walked into the same room as her mother when she was busy doing work for the Ministry that required a very strict silence.

The air seemed to hold a buzz of some secret magic.

An old man emerged from the rows of wand boxes and greeted, "Good afternoon." He had wide, pale eyes.

"Good afternoon," the eleven year old responded.

"Ah, yes. I remember you, Adriana Frost," Mr Ollivander said. "I remember selling your older brother his wand, Cypress…phoenix feather…twelve and a half inches…non-bendable."

Adriana remembered that too. She also remembered what Mr Ollivander had told her mother about Cypress wands and she winced at the memory, "Me too. He did…pass away…in a heroic death…just like you said."

"I wasn't counting on him dying early," Mr Ollivander responded quietly.

The girl grew uncomfortable when it seemed like the tension in the air seemed to increase. She could've sworn she heard buzzing, as if the wands were humming at the tense feeling.

"I remember your dad's wand, as well. Black walnut…dragon heartstring…thirteen inches…non-bendable," Mr Ollivander stated. "Impressive magic he creates."

Adriana stared at him confused, "My dad's in Azkaban."

Mr Ollivander blinked at her. The buzzing seemed to increase in volume. Adriana felt a little uncomfortable and was sure that the buzzing would break the windows if the tension grew even more.

"I suspect that you're here for your first wand," Mr Ollivander stated at last.

"Yes," she said, glad for a change in subject. It seemed like the odd buzzing dropped significantly.

"Now, which is your wand arm?" Mr Ollivander asked.

"My right hand," the girl said, holding out her hand.

Mr Ollivander pulled out a long tape measure that had silver markings out of his pocket. He measure the girl from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round her head. Mr Ollivander was busy taking down boxes of wands and Adriana realized that the measuring tape was on its own and measuring the distance between her eyes.

"That will do," Mr Ollivander said and the tape measure crumbled into a heap on the floor. "Right, Miss Frost. Try this one. Maple wood and unicorn tail hair. Ten inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

The girl took the wand and waved it around once, before Mr Ollivander took the wand back. She was a little surprised and upset. She couldn't even find her own wand on her first try. Beatrix would be disappointed in her, although it took Ryan ten times to find a wand.

Mr Ollivander handed her another wand. "Fir and phoenix feather. Twelve inches. Whippy. Try—" Adriana raised it and Mr Ollivander took it back. "No, no…Pine and dragon heartstring. Eight and a half inches…bendy…"

Adriana tried waving it before it was snatched back. She tried Cherry, Cedar, Ebony, Mahogany, Black Walnut, Chestnut, Yew, Hazel, Holly…Adriana was growing more and more anxious as the pile grew. What if she never found her wand?

"Don't worry. Your mother took a long time to find her wand. Twenty wands, I believe," Mr Ollivander said, seemingly taking in the state that Adriana was working herself into.

Adriana couldn't help but grin. So her mother _wasn't_ perfect after all.

"Let's see…tricky customer I see…Maybe a tricky wand for a tricky customer. Larch, maybe?" Mr Ollivander said, handing Adriana a wand that was warm in colour. Adriana flicked it, but nothing happened. Mr Ollivander took it back and went to look at the boxes. He muttered, "Something for good and bad times…deserving of loyalty…"

Adriana noticed that she had an audience. A man, maybe in his early thirties, was standing by with two olive-skinned twin girls. The girls had shoulder-length brown hair. The man had light brown skin and brown hair.

They were standing by the chair, watching. Adriana was feeling a little embarrassed. How long were they standing there, watching her? Were they laughing as she struggled to find wands? But something about them…seemed nice, friendly even.

He handed Adriana a wand, "English oak…Eleven inches…phoenix feather…non-bendable. Give it a flick…"

Adriana took it and felt warmth in her hand. She flicked it and ribbons of pink and silver shot out of the end.

There was clapping and Adriana looked over. The man and the two girls were clapping. Adriana wasn't sure if it was out of politeness more than genuine awe, but it felt nice being cheered on, even if it was out of politeness. Mr Ollivander went to ring the wand up.

"You were saying something about good and bad times…and deserving of loyalty," Adriana stated. "What did you mean by that?"

"This is a wand for good times and bad. This wand is a friend as loyal as the wizard or witch who deserves it. They demand partners of strength, courage, and fidelity," Mr Ollivander said as he packaged the wand. "A less well-known fact is the propensity for owners of English oak wands to have powerful intuition, and, often, an affinity with the magic of the natural world, with the creatures and plants that are necessary to wizardkind for both magic and pleasure."

Adriana nodded, "Right…" She was a strong, courageous witch? She couldn't even stand up to her own mother. She deserved the English oak wand because of some sort of loyalty? Sure she would stand up for her mother if someone talked badly of Beatrix, but still…

She paid for her wand and left Ollivanders. "I got the English oak, Mother."

"How many wands did you go through?" Beatrix asked.

"I don't know…maybe twenty or twenty-five. I don't…" Adriana started and trailed off. "Maybe thirty…I don't know…"

Beatrix heaved a big sigh, "Oh, Adriana. You'll never change. You're always going to be a failure."

 _What the hell do you know?_ Adriana thought as they made their way to Slug & Jigger's Apothecary. Inside, it had the lovely scent of bad eggs and rotted cabbage.

There were barrels of slimy stuff on the floor. Lining the walls were bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claw hung from the ceiling. There were silver unicorn horns that were twenty-one Galleons each and the minuscule, glittery beetle eyes were five Knuts a scoop. She went to the counter and asked the man for a supply of basic potion ingredients.

After getting that, they headed to Madam Malkin's shop. When Adriana entered, Madam Malkin greeted her, "Hogwarts, dear?"

For a moment, Adriana was thrown at the term of affection. She never had a term of affection directed at her, unless one counted 'Big Mouth' as a term of affection, but she doubted that. Adriana nodded, "Yes."

"Got the lot in here," Madam Malkin said. "Another young woman is being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back was a girl with a pug-faced girl with shoulder length brown hair. She was standing on a footstool while another witch pinned up her robes. The girl looked bored as if she had something better to do with her day.

Madam Malkin had Adriana stand on the footstool and put a long robe over her head. Madam Malkin started pinning it to the right length.

"Hello," the pug-faced girl greeted Adriana.

"Hello," Adriana replied, almost shyly. She never really talked to another girl before, other than brief words. It was odd.

The pug-faced girl looked at Adriana and seemed to scrutinize her. "Pure-blood, half-blood, or mudblood?"

Adriana was thrown for a loop at how casually the other girl used a discriminatory tone like that. She replied, "pure-blood."

The girl seemed to brighten, "Pansy Parkinson."

Adriana frowned, "Adriana Frost."

Pansy seemed to scrutinize Adriana again, as if she was looking for flaws to inflict maximum emotional pain. _To bad for her_ , Adriana thought, _what can she tell me that I haven't heard before?_ Pansy nodded, "I'm going to be in Slytherin as my family as before me. Are you going to be in Slytherin too?"

 _What? She expects us to be in Slytherin together? What for? To be friends with the girl who's dad murdered two Muggles?_ Adriana thought. She shrugged, "I…don't know."

"Well, I know I'm going to be in Slytherin," Pansy said, looking at Adriana again. "What House were your parents in?"

"I know my mum's been in Gryffindor, but I don't know what House my dad was in. I don't think he ever talked about it. He was thrown in Azkaban when I was five. My mum doesn't like talking about him," Adriana said.

"What was he thrown in Azkaban for?" Pansy asked.

"He killed two Muggles," Adriana said, stunned at the question.

Pansy seemed to nod in appreciation, "Admirable."

Adriana didn't think it was admirable at all. That was just horrible.

"Have you heard about how Black was thrown in Azkaban? Your dad's not quite as impressive as him, though," Pansy said. "Where's your mother by the way?" She looked out at the store.

"Outside," Adriana said flatly.

The door opened and a bushy, brown-haired girl entered the store followed by two adults, presumably her parents, looking around in awe.

Pansy made a disgusted face, "I know that Twilfitt and Tatting's will be the new place where I'm getting my robes. My parents will understand my decision." She took off her finished robes and left them on the ground. She stepped off the stool and looked at Adriana. "You're coming with us, right?"

Adriana looked at Pansy. "No, I think this place is just _fine_."

Pansy sneered at Adriana, and stepped on the robes on the clothes rack on her way through the store.

"What a beastly child," the witch muttered and Adriana nodded. The witch went to direct the bushy-haired girl to the stool.

Adriana looked at the bushy-haired girl, "You going to Hogwarts too?"

The girl beamed, "Yes. I got my things last year, my parents were oh so pleased, but they wanted to wait on getting me robes just in case I outgrew them." She had a bossy sort of voice.

"Oh, I got my letter in January, but my mum held off on coming to Diagon Alley," Adriana explained.

"Why?" the girl asked, looking bewildered at the idea. "Where is she?" She looked around the store.

"Outside," Adriana said, almost sighing, at the constant mention of where her mother was at.

"Why didn't she come in with you?" the girl asked.

"She's busy," Adriana replied flatly.

"Oh," the girl said. "I plan on getting top marks and being the top of the class when I get to Hogwarts. Muggle-borns aren't taken seriously, so I plan on proving them all wrong. I know all the books by heart."

 _No, I'm going to be the one getting top marks and be the top of the class. I also plan on being a prefect and Head Girl, so my mother can finally be proud of me,_ Adriana thought. She smiled and nodded at the girl, "Good luck with that."

"Do you know which House you're going to be Sorted in?" the girl asked.

"You're all done, my dear," Madam Malkin said.

"Thank you," Adriana said as she removed the robes. Madam Malkin folded them and put them in a bag. Adriana grabbed a pack of name tags and handed Madam Malkin one more Galleon than necessary and rushed to the door, yelling, "Keep the change!" over her shoulder. She hurried out of the shop, and felt bad for not saying bye to the girl, but she wanted to get a head-start on her books so she can outsmart that girl. She lived in the wizarding world her whole life, so it should be easy.

Beatrix started heading in a different direction than where the Leaky Cauldron was. Adriana was confused, "The Leaky Cauldron is that way, Mother."

"I have one more stop to make," Beatrix said, continuing to march forward.

Adriana followed after Beatrix. She was led to Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions, a shop that also sold potions to help witches get rid of warts and worse. Adriana didn't want to know what the 'worse' part was and refused to go in the shop as Beatrix headed in. She looked in the window to see that there were potions that apparently dyed hair, temporarily of course. Right across the street was Sugarplum's Sweets Shop. She debated staying put or running in, because her mother might take a while inside Primpernelle's. She decided on running into the sweets shop, so she ran to Sugerplum's. She grabbed two pumpkin pasties, which were ten Sickles each and two cauldron cakes which were eight Sickles each.

She paid two Galleons for the sweets and ran out with her sweets. She stuffed the items in her shoulder bag and went to Madam Primpernelle's. She stood by the window, trying to calm down so her mother didn't think nothing was wrong, but would Beatrix even notice or care?

She looked at the hair dye potions. There was one potion that dyed hair a red velvet colour. She wondered how she would look with red velvet hair. It cost ten Galleons though.

The door opened and Beatrix strolled out. She started walking away and Adriana followed after her, this time in the right direction of where the Leaky Cauldron was.

When they entered the pub, it looked like the giant man and a boy was leaving. Adriana turned to the fireplace while Beatrix talked to the bartender, Tom, about getting some Floo Powder.

Tom produced a jar of Floo Powder and Beatrix stuck her hand in and grabbed some powder. Adriana grabbed some too.

This was going to be an interesting rest of summer, Adriana guessed. Maybe she would stop thinking about running away. Maybe once she gets top marks and is the top of the class at Hogwarts, her mother would finally stop seeing her as a failure and a disappointment. However, in her heart, she knew that Beatrix wouldn't stop being disappointed in her and wouldn't be proud of her.


	3. Hogwarts Express

Chapter 2: **The Hogwarts Express**

* * *

The rest of the summer went by quickly. Adriana spent her time reading and rereading the course books. When Beatrix was in the manor, Adriana practiced the Levitation Charm, the Wand-Lighting Charm, the Unlocking Charm, the Mending Charm, and the Fire-Making Spell, because she didn't want to get in trouble for underage magic.

Her mother wasn't impressed with the spells that Adriana learned, so Adriana reduced herself to reading the course books. She didn't want to let the bushy-haired girl get in her way of trying to make Beatrix proud of her. At least her parents were proud of her for being a witch. Adriana was going because Beatrix was tired of taking care of her and Beatrix thought that Adriana was going to get expelled anyway.

Well, Adriana was going to prove Beatrix wrong and finally make her proud.

* * *

At five in the morning, Adriana had double-checked if she had everything packed. She was sure that her mother wouldn't send her what was left behind because it is her responsibility to make sure she had everything. Besides, she would be called stupid because she couldn't do something as simple as packing her things. She looked at her list and checked off each item as she packed up.

She was missing two books, which was _A History of Magic_ and _Magical Theory_. So, she ran around her room looking for the missing two books. She looked through the closet and through the wardrobe. She found the books under her bed and packed them up. She took out the Hogwarts Express ticket and looked at it. She grabbed her journal and stuck it in her shoulder bag, along with a quill and an inkwell that was nearly empty.

She looked at her clock to see that was nearing ten, so they should be leaving sometime soon. She got up and decided to remind her mother. She went to her mother's study. She knocked on the door and waited to be called in. After a moment of that, she opened the door and walked in. Her mother was at the desk, working on something that involved a lot of writing.

Adriana stood in front of the desk and waited for her mother to acknowledge her. After a few minutes, Beatrix sighed and asked, "What do you want?"

"Mother, the train ticket says that the Hogwarts Express leaves at eleven, but it's…" Adriana trailed off and looked at a wall clock, "already nine-fifty."

Beatrix didn't look up, "I know that, _Adriana_. I'm not a prat." She said 'Adriana' as if the girl was being impatient and throwing a tantrum. "That's why you're taking the Knight Bus." She passed a Galleon to Adriana.

"Oh," Adriana said and started to leave the study to go get her trunk.

"Adriana…" Beatrix started.

The eleven-year-old stopped and looked back at Beatrix, hopefully. Adriana fought back a smile. Was she going to say what Adriana was hoping that she would say? "Yes, Mother?"

"Harry Potter is going to be going to Hogwarts, too," Beatrix started.

Adriana was now confused and felt her hope puncture, just a little, "Okay?"

"I want you to keep an eye on him for me," Beatrix said. "Make sure that he doesn't do anything too life-threatening."

"You want me to spy on him?" Adriana asked incredulous.

"No, not spy," Beatrix said slowly. "Keep an eye on him."

"Okay," Adriana said and stood there, expecting her mother to tell her to have fun at Hogwarts, or even say 'I love you', but there was nothing. She left the study in outrage. Why did Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, get her mother's concern, when she couldn't even remember a single moment when Beatrix showed concern for her? Why did Beatrix even care about Harry Potter anyway? You-Know-Who was destroyed ten years ago on Hallowe'en, so it wasn't like he was coming back. Yeah, sure Harry defeated You-Know-Who, but did it warrant Beatrix loving him instead of Adriana?

She stomped back to her room and grabbed her trunk. She dragged it out of her room and closed the door on her way her out. She dragged it down the hallway and had a little difficulty getting it down the stairs. She dragged it out of the house and onto the porch. She stuck out her wand and there was a loud BANG. A violently purple, triple-decker bus barreled straight out of nowhere, stopping right in front of her.

A dark skinned girl, maybe around seven years older than Adriana, hopped out. She was wearing a purple conductor's uniform. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Ashley Jamison, and I will be your conductor this morning." She looked at Adriana curiously. "Where do you want to go?"

"I'm Adriana Frost," Adriana said. "And to King's Cross, please."

"Going to Hogwarts?" Ashley asked.

Adriana nodded and Ashley helped her with the trunk.

"Eleven Sickles to get you to London, a Galleon and three Sickles if you want hot chocolate," said Ashley as Adriana sat in one of the mismatched chairs.

Adriana handed her the Galleon, "Just get me to King's Cross, please."

"To King's Cross, Ernie," Ashley said, handing Adriana six Sickles and sitting down right as the bus took off with a loud BANG. "I left Hogwarts two years ago. I'm nineteen. You'll love it there, although we kept getting new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor each year."

"Why?" asked Adriana.

"They say it's cursed," Ashley said, shrugging. "It's been that way for many years."

Adriana nodded, though she was still seething about how Beatrix cared more for a complete and utter stranger, despite Harry being famous, than her, her own daughter.

The bus slide past gaps that cars had made and jumped to the head of traffic. Somehow they made it to King's Cross at ten-twenty. Ashley found Adriana a trolley and helped Adriana put the trunk on the trolley, before waving goodbye and saying, "have a good term," and the bus left another BANG. Adriana pushed her trolley in the station and headed straight to the metal barrier that was in between platforms nine and ten. When she was a good distance away, she ran for it and passed through the barrier right onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

A scarlet steam engine was puffing out smoke and there was a sign that said: **Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock** and she looked at the archway behind her that had a sign that said: **Platform Nine and Three Quarters**.

Adriana went to the train and looked for an empty compartment while trying to ignore the feeling of jealousy when she heard parents saying, "Have fun," or "I love you" and seeing mothers seeing their child off. She took a small comfort in Ashley telling her goodbye and to have a good term, but it wasn't the same.

She found a compartment in the middle and tried heaving the heavy trunk onto the train, but it fell. She considered grabbing her wand and using the Levitation Spell to get her trunk in the train, when a light-brown skinned man came over to her.

He asked, "Need any help?"

"Yes, please," Adriana said and he helped her lift the trunk in the compartment, "Thank you."

"Why aren't your parents with you?" the man asked, sounding curious.

"My dad's in Azkaban and my mother…" Adriana trailed off, not sure how to phrase, ' _didn't want to waste her time by seeing her daughter get sent off to Hogwarts_ ' politely. She finished her sentence with, "was busy with work."

The man seemed satisfied with that answer and left the train. Adriana couldn't help but think that he seemed oddly familiar but she couldn't place where. She sat down by the window and looked out. A family of red-heads came through the barrier and then a black-haired boy followed after them. Then another red-head boy came through, followed by a plump woman and a red-haired girl. She looked away, feeling envious at the large family and grabbed a book from her trunk, not bothering to see what it was about. She opened it and stared at the page.

 _The hag is a child-eating creature of human appearance, though likely to have more warts than the average witch._

Adriana wondered why the world decided that it was time to rub her brother's death and happy, whole families in her face. Her brother was dead, her father was in Azkaban, and her mother flat out hated her. It was a little unfair. Life was unfair.

"Are you saving these extra seats for someone else?" a girl asked.

Adriana looked up to see that there were two olive-skinned twin girls, with shoulder length brown hair. They had trunks with them and a cage with a black horned-owl that had white flecks in its feathers. Now she remembered them. They were at Ollivanders when she was there. She shook her head, "Go ahead."

"Flora, help me with the trunk and Pagan," the girl with the slightly larger nose said to her sister. She set the owl down in front of the seat that was across from Adriana. The owl, Pagan, stared at her with amber eyes.

"All right," the other girl, presumably Flora, said.

Adriana saw that Flora had a slightly narrower face than her sister.

The twins pulled the trunk on the train and put it near the seat, before doing the same to the other trunk, before they ran off. The owl hooted softly, staring at Adriana. Adriana looked out the window at the crowds of families. She saw the two twin girls run up to their parents. Their parents were holding a few shoulder bags, which the two girls took.

Ryan was supposed to be here with her. He was supposed to help her with her trunk, not a random stranger. She was supposed to have been sitting with him in the Knight Bus. She was supposed to be the annoying little sister out there bothering Ryan about getting on the train before it left, even if it was ten minutes before taking off. Ryan was supposed to be showing off a prefect badge with pride and honour…but he wasn't here.

She took out the notebook, quill, and the ink from her shoulder bag. She opened the journal to the fifth from last page and wrote: _I'm always being haunted by a dead boy. That dead boy is my brother. He may be dead and buried, but he's still alive because he continues to live in my head and my heart._

Other than journal entries, she also liked writing poetry and random sentences that pop into her head. She supposed that writing seemed to help her cope with Ryan's death. She closed the journal and stuck the items back in her shoulder bag and picked up the book that she was staring blankly at. She felt tears come to her eyes and she blinked them back. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't weak. She couldn't show everyone how weak and pathetic she was. Murderers weren't weak and pathetic. She sucked it up and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. She was a murderer. She destroyed her family when she ran away when Ryan needed her the most.

The whistle sounded and Adriana was relieved. She didn't have to see the happy families anymore. She can finally be alone with her and her troubled emotions and thoughts.

The two twin girls came back in the compartment with some extra bags and as the train started to take off, they stood by the window, waving and shouting good-bye to their parents as the train went past the platform.

Adriana felt a little bit jealous over that. Why didn't she have parents to wave good-bye to? Granted, her mother would've just ignored her anyway…

A tall, thin, gangly boy walked in. He had freckles, red hair, and large hands and feet. He looked at the three girls and walked by, probably to look for an empty compartment.

The girl with the slightly bigger nose said, "I'm Flora and this is Hestia."

Adriana was slightly thrown off-guard, "I'm Adriana."

"What House do you think you're going to be in when you get to Hogwarts?" Hestia asked. "We know that we're going to be in Slytherin."

Adriana responded, "I don't know. I'm not brave enough for Gryffindor and I'm not smart enough for Ravenclaw. I don't think I'm cunning enough for Slytherin. Probably Hufflepuff, then," she shrugged.

"You seem smart to me," Flora said, looking at Adriana.

Adriana couldn't believe that, despite wanting to believe them. As politely as she could, she said, "Thank you."

"So, what do you think your favourite subject might be?" Hestia asked, "I mean, coming from your books."

"I think Potions doesn't seem too bad, but I think Charms seem fascinating," Adriana said. There was a part of her saying that she wanted to be friends with them, but there was a part of her saying not to, because all she'll end up doing is disappointing them, especially when they find out she's a murderer. She couldn't see why she should bother making friends when all she knew that she was going to end up alone anyway. She asked, "What do you think your favourite subject will be?" She figured that she might as well make pleasantries, when she knew that they were going to end up in different Houses and won't speak to each other again for seven years.

"Transfiguration," Hestia said. "I already did a few practice spells."

"History of Magic," Flora said. "I heard it's taught by a ghost."

"It is," Adriana replied.

"How do you know?" Flora asked.

"My brother told me," Adriana said, nearly wincing at that.

Hestia asked, "How old is he?"

"Can we meet him?" Flora asked at the same time as Hestia.

Adriana wasn't sure how to put it gently and said, "He's dead."

Hestia and Flora winced at that.

"He had just turned thirteen too," Adriana added, "It happened three years ago."

"Sorry," the twin girls said.

"Thanks," Adriana said and looked out the window.

"I wonder what's it like to have a brother," Hestia said.

Adriana shrugged. With the way her mother was, he was the only person that seemed to treat her nicely, besides strangers in Diagon Alley when they went for Ryan's Hogwarts supplies. "He was…nice. Sometimes he pulled my hair or insulted me, but that's what brothers do."

Flora thumbed at Hestia, "That's what she's like with me." Hestia glared at Flora and pulled her hair. Flora grinned, "See?"

Adriana couldn't help but smile at that. She didn't have the heart to say that Ryan started to stop with the whole teasing thing, but the insults came less and less. Adriana started to suspect that he started seeing how Beatrix was treating her and decided to be kinder to her.

Hestia said, "She also likes to steal some of my clothes."

"No, I don't," Flora replied to quickly.

"I don't know what Ryan would look like if he wore my clothes," Adriana said. From a memory, he was taller than her. She was sure he was 5'6, or maybe it was because she was smaller at that time. "I don't think he can pull off a skirt though."

If Ryan was still alive and heard that, he probably would've been a little horrified or maybe he would shudder. Her heart was hurting at the thought of her deceased brother. She forced back tears. She didn't want to look weak in front of Hestia and Flora. She wanted to leave a semi-good impression on those two. She also didn't want them to spread a rumour that she cried on the Hogwarts Express when she got to Hogwarts.

"My mum told me this spell," Flora said. She stood up and dug in a bag that was in the luggage rack. She took out a wand and muttered something. Different coloured bubbles came shooting out of the wand. The bubbles landed on different objects, leaving coloured splats from where they landed. It was kind of amusing.

"Are they going to be happy that their compartment got dyed?" Adriana asked.

"It'll fade in an hour or two," Flora said shrugging.

Adriana tried to remember any fun spells that she knew about, but she couldn't. "So, do any of you like Quidditch?"

"I don't," Hestia said.

"I don't either," Adriana replied. "Ryan was a fan, but I can't remember what team he liked." It was a little upsetting that she couldn't remember which team her brother liked. "Maybe he didn't know which team to like because he didn't see a live game."

"I think it's kind of boring," Hestia said.

Flora looked a little insulted. "I don't think it's boring."

"What's so fun about it?" Hestia said.

Flora ended up going on a rant about the broomsticks, about not knowing who will catch the Snitch first, and something about how the dodging the Bludgers was exciting and adrenaline inducing.

Adriana asked, "So, are you going to be a Chaser for the school team?"

"No, I don't think I can handle it," Flora said. "I hear they even train in all sorts of weather."

"She would watch a live game in the rain, but not play Quidditch because of the rain," Hestia clarified.

"There's a difference," Flora said. "Flying a broomstick in the rain hurts, but standing in it is fine."

"She has a point," Adriana said.

"I know," Hestia said, sighing. "I can't contradict that."

Flora smirked in victory.

* * *

Around twelve, there was a clattering outside the compartment. There was a smiling, dimpled faced woman standing there, with a food trolley that said Honeydukes Express on it. Adriana got up and opened the compartment door for the woman. The woman asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Adriana opened her bag for the money pouch as Flora and Hestia dug around in their bags in the luggage rack.

"Can you please get me: four packages of Crystallised Pineapple, four tins of Nougat Chunks, and two iced Pumpkin Juices?" Adriana asked smiling.

The witch handed Adriana her order and the girl paid for it, before Flora and Hestia came up. Adriana sat down with her bundle as the other two ordered their snacks.

Apparently Flora loved Glacial Snowflakes because she bought five packages of it and Hestia loved Shock-o-Choc, which had chili powder in it, because she bought six packages.

The twins sat down and Hestia opened a package of Shock-o-Choc and stuffed a few tiny pieces in her mouth.

Flora placed a snowflake in her mouth and after a second, blew out a fog, like they were in the cold, and grinned at Adriana, who couldn't help but smile back.

Hestia held out a few pieces of Shock-o-Choc to her, "Here. Try this."

Adriana took the pieces and ate them. The chili powder kicked in, giving her a bit of a shock. She opened a pumpkin juice and drained half of the bottle.

Hestia laughed, but it didn't seem malicious over the slight humiliation that she caused. She seemed more amused the reaction. "Not big on chili powder, are you?"

"I am, but I wasn't expecting that much," Adriana said, drinking some more pumpkin juice. She was sure that if she ate a few more pieces of Shock-o-Choc, she would be breathing fire.

* * *

Some time had passed when there was a knock on the compartment door and a round-faced boy walked in. "Have any of you seen a toad?"

"No," Adriana said, confused. Who brings a toad to Hogwarts? He'll be a laughingstock for bringing a toad.

Hestia and Flora shook their heads, staring at him.

"Someone let loose a toad on the train?" Flora asked, sounding incredulous.

"He got away from me," the boy wailed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that he'll return," Hestia responded.

"Well, if any of you see him," the boy said and left the compartment.

"Why bring a toad with you?" Adriana muttered, "That's embarrassing."

The compartment door opened and a bushy-haired girl walked in, wearing her robes. "Have any of you seen a toad? Neville lost one." She had a bossy sort of voice. She seemed a little familiar, but Adriana couldn't place where.

"No," Hestia responded flatly.

"Try asking down the train," Flora said.

The girl looked at them, "You should put on your robes, because I suspect we will be at Hogwarts soon." She left the compartment and Adriana opened her trunk, pulling out her robes.

"I'll be right back," Adriana told them, getting up and going to the nearest loo.

"Did you hear that Harry Potter is down the train?" a girl asked Adriana.

Just hearing the Boy-Who-Lived's name, made Adriana angry all over again. She turned and stomped away, accidentally shoving a dark brown haired boy out of the way with her shoulder. She didn't know what to do. Should she go search for Harry, so she can keep an eye on him, like her mother wanted? But then again, why did her mother care about Harry more than her? She stormed into the loo and slammed the door shut. Her mother cared more about Harry than her. She shouldn't be surprised at that, after all, her mother was ashamed of her.

It wasn't Harry's fault, but she couldn't help but be angry at him. It was irrational, she knew that. She got dressed and left the loo and went back to the compartment. Hestia and Flora had already changed.

"I can't wait till we get to Hogwarts," Hestia gushed. "This is going to be so _exciting_." Her voice came out as a squeak at the last word.

Flora picked up her box of Glacial Snowflakes, and looked at Hestia. "I'm going to eat these and pretend that I don't know you."

* * *

A bit more time passed and a voice over a speaker said: "We will be reaching Hogsmeade Station in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Adriana felt a little ill with nerves. What will happen if she didn't get Sorted? She will be laughed out of the school and her mother would be smug over the fact that she couldn't get Sorted. She could do magic, but she couldn't get Sorted. She would be a failure. Her mother would say, "See? Not even you're wanted at Hogwarts. Murderers aren't welcomed at Hogwarts."

"Come on," Flora said, grabbing Adriana's shoulder, taking her to the crowd that was growing in the corridors.

Someone stepped on Adriana's foot and she got elbowed in the ribs as they made their way to a platform.

A lantern bobbed over their heads and a gruff voice called, "Firs' years! Firs years over here! All right there, Harry?"

A few heads turned to look. Adriana stared at the big hairy face that was over the sea of heads.

"That's one tall man," Flora whispered to Adriana.

"C'mon, follow me—any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" called the man.

They followed the man down a step narrow path. The path was so dark on either side of them that Adriana was sure that there were thick trees on the path.

"How much farther do you think it will be?" Hestia whispered.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man called over his shoulder, as if he heard what Hestia whispered. "Jus' round this bend here."

The narrow path opened onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop of a high mountain on the other side was a vast castle with man turrets and towers. The windows were sparkling in the starry sky.

"Ooh!" the first years said, looking awed.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the man called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Flora, Hestia, Adriana, and a dark haired boy got in a boat.

The boy was glaring at Adriana, who was trying to ignore the look.

"Everyone in?" called the man. "Right then—forward!" With a small jolt, the boats started to go forward across the lake.

"How do you think they're going to get our luggage in the castle? They don't know which House we're going to be Sorted in," Flora said.

"I think they have house-elves do it," Adriana said. "During the feast, I'm sure they go to the train and get our stuff to put in our Houses after we're Sorted."

"I wonder what the house-elves are like," Hestia said.

"I think Ryan met a few," Adriana said. "He told me that he once went down to the kitchens and saw them. He said that kind of reminded him of our house-elf, Teagan."

"Oh," Flora said.

"Teagan doesn't talk, though," Adriana said. "At least, to me she hasn't."

"Heads down!" the man called.

Adriana was briefly confused and she got smacked in the face with a curtain of ivy. Hestia, Flora, and the boy were the only ones who ducked. Adriana could've sworn she heard the boy muffling his laughter. She almost narrowed her eyes at him. What did she do to him?

The curtain of ivy had been concealing an opening to a tunnel, which they entered. Adriana was sure that they were under the school and they reached a habour of some sort. She felt a little wobbly when she stepped out onto the rocks and pebbles. Hestia fell to her knees and Flora was there to help her up.

The boy shoved right past them before heading to two boys.

"What crawled up his ass?" Hestia asked.

"I don't know," Adriana said, a little bewildered at the reaction.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" asked the man, pointing to the round-faced boy from the train.

"Trevor!" the boy called.

They walked up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lantern, and stepped right into smooth, damp grass that was in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" asked the man. After everyone was settled, he raised his fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	4. The Sorting

A/N: The face-claim to Jayden Hayes is Tom Holland.

* * *

Chapter 3: **The Sorting**

* * *

The door opened and a tall, stern-faced, black-haired woman appeared in the door. She was wearing robes of emerald green.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the man.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," replied Professor McGonagall.

She pulled the door wide open revealing the entrance hall. The entrance hall was so big that it seemed to put Adriana's manor to shame. The walls were lit with flaming torches and the ceiling was too high to make out and there was a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.

They walked across the stone floor and Adriana can hear the drone of hundreds of voice from a doorway to the right—the rest of the school must already be here. Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing a little to close to each other.

To Adriana's disappointment, she was standing to close to the boy that she had shared a boat with.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," stated Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your Houses common room.

"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," explained Professor McGonagall. Her eyes lingered somewhere, but Adriana was feeling to nervous to see what drew the professor's attention. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She left the chamber.

"We're going to get Sorted in front of the school?" Adriana asked Flora and Hestia.

It was going to be worse if she didn't get Sorted. She'll be humiliated in front of the entire school. Her mother would be really smug about that.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Hestia said.

Adriana nodded back at her in acknowledgement. She wanted to believe her, but she wasn't smart, brave, or cunning. She'll probably end up in Hufflepuff, which wouldn't be too bad. Maybe they would accept her there; even if they found out she killed her brother. Her mother would be so disappointed that she didn't make Gryffindor, but then again, her mother was always disappointed in her. If she even got Sorted, her mother wouldn't care. She would probably make some comment about how the House shouldn't accept murderers and that Hogwarts is going to the dogs.

"How do we get Sorted anyway?" Flora asked.

"Ryan told me that we're supposed to have some big test on what potions are poisoned, Transfigure something, and do some sort of magic trick that Muggle magicians do," Adriana told Flora and Hestia. "I think he was joking."

"You think?" the boy from the boat snapped at her.

Adriana turned and looked at him. She forced herself to look in dark brown eyes. They seemed to be filled with hatred, but she can handle hatred. It was nothing compared to her mother's. Besides, she hated herself, too. "Yes, I think, but I suspect that you wouldn't know anything about it. Also, Sunshine, you have to get in line to hate me." She turned her back on him before she can see the look on his face.

About twenty ghosts streamed through the back wall. They were pearly-white and slightly transparent. They were gliding across the room talking to one another and hardly glanced at the first years, because they seemed to be arguing. She turned away from the boy on the boat and looked at Flora and Hestia.

"Whatever House we're Sorted in, we should still be friends, right?" Flora asked.

"Yeah," Adriana responded, nodding. She felt sick to her stomach. It wouldn't matter, anyway. Once they find out she killed her brother, they'll abandon her, too, just like how her mother abandoned her.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" a man said, "My old House, you know."

"Move along now," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." The ghosts floated away and through the opposite wall. "Now form a line and follow me."

Adriana stood behind Hestia as the boy from the boat stood behind her. She didn't have to look, because she had the most uncomfortable feeling that he was still glaring at her.

They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Adriana gasped at the sight of thousands and thousand of candles hovering over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sittings. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up to the top of the hall, so they can form a line that faced the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The rest of the students that stared at them looked eerie with the flickering candlelight illuminating them. Adriana can see the ghosts, who stood out because they were misty silver.

Adriana looked up at the ceiling to see that the nighttime sky was dotted with stars. It was a pretty sight and she looked away quickly, remembering three years ago, she had looked up at the night sky and thought it was pretty too.

"My brother told me that it's bewitched to look like the sky outside," Adriana told the boy next to her.

He looked like he was in awe at the sight of the ceiling. "I read about it. It looks like there's no ceiling."

Professor McGonagall was placing a four-legged stool in front of the first years and put a pointed wizard's hat on it. It looked patched, frayed, and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds there was nothing but silence and then the hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide, and began to sing.

The hat sang about how it can see whatever is in your head and how you can't hide anything. It sang about how it will Sort you and place you in the House where you should be. It sang about how Gryffindors were daring, chivalrous, and had nerve. Hufflepuff were just, loyal, patient, unafraid of toil, and were true. Ravenclaw was wise, with a ready mind, with wit and learning, and had a kind. Slytherin was where you make real friends and were a cunning kind who use any means to achieve their ends.

Adriana couldn't help but be afraid, even though the hat sang not too.

After the hat finished its song, the whole hall burst into applause. She clapped too and watched as the hat bowed to the four tables and became still again. She bit her knuckle, feeling sick again. She wasn't brave because she left her brother to die, she wasn't smart like her mother says, she wasn't cunning, and she wasn't sure if she would even fit with Hufflepuff.

"Don't worry," Hestia said.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call you name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be Sorted," she looked at the parchment. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A blonde-pigtailed girl stumbled out of line and put on the hat. After a pause, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right side of the hall cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down with them.

"Bones, Susan!" Professor McGonagall called.

A red-haired girl went and sat on the stool, pulling the hat on, which also shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Susan went and sat next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

A dark-haired boy went and sat on the stool, being Sorted into Ravenclaw. Brocklehurst, Mandy went to Ravenclaw as well. Brown Lavender became the first Gryffindor, and "Bulstrode, Millicent," became the first Slytherin.

"Carrow, Flora!" called Professor McGonagall.

The last name poked at Adriana. She heard the last name before, but couldn't place it.

Flora sat on the stool and the hat was placed on her head.

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat.

Flora went to sit with the Slytherins.

"Carrow, Hestia!" called Professor McGonagall.

"You'll do fine," Hestia said to Adriana before sitting on the stool.

"That's gross," the boy next to Adriana said.

The girl looked at him. "What?"

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat.

"You're bleeding," the boy responded, pointing.

Adriana looked down and realized she broke the skin on her knuckle. She was irrationally angry again, "It's none of your damn business."

A brunette girl named Fay Dunbar was Sorted in Gryffindor.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" called Professor McGonagall.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

"Finnigan, Seamus!" called Professor McGonagall.

A sandy-haired boy sat on the stool. It took a moment for him to be declared Gryffindor.

 _Oh great, I'm going to be next_ , Adriana thought, feeling a little sick.

"Frost, Adriana!" called Professor McGonagall.

For a moment, it seemed like a part of the hall went silent and Adriana sat on the stool. The hat was placed on her head.

" _Hmm_ ," a voice said in her ear, " _Another Frost, eh?_ "

 _I suppose,_ Adriana thought.

" _Your brother had a lot of nerves and bravery_ ," the hat said.

 _He took on a hag at thirteen,_ Adriana replied.

" _Yes, yes, I know all about that_ ," the hat said. " _He mentioned you a few times. He talked highly of you._ "

 _Not to my face, he hasn't_ , Adriana thought.

" _Now, where to put you,_ " the hat said.

 _Definitely not Gryffindor,_ Adriana thought.

" _Why not?_ " questioned the hat and there was a brief silence, " _Oh…I see._ "

Adriana felt as if her heart would stop at that, _Yeah. That's why._

" _There's no shame in running to get help,_ " the hat told her. " _I see that you stood up to your mother. Standing up to your family is a brave thing._ "

 _Even if I apologized after that happened?_ Adriana thought.

" _Even after you apologized,_ " the hat said. " _I see you wake up every morning, battling the same horrible thoughts that you always wake up with. And you don't allow hate to break you. I see a lot of bravery and courage in you, you just need some help getting it out. I know a House that will help you with that. Better be_ —GRYFFINDOR!"

Adriana felt sickened and cold at once. She got up and shakily moved to the Gryffindor table. They were cheering and clapping for her. She sat down and Fay Dunbar smiled at her. She nodded at her in acknowledgment and looked down the table. Her brother should be there, clapping for her, but he wasn't.

The worst was over. She was a Gryffindor. Her mother would probably have a heart attack because she was in the same House as Ryan. She hoped that her mother wouldn't send her a Howler, yelling at her about how there wasn't anything brave about murder.

"Granger, Hermione!" called Professor McGonagall.

The bushy-haired girl that Adriana saw in Madam Malkin's, practically ran to the stool and jammed the hat on her head. She was Sorted into Gryffindor. Adriana clapped for the girl, as she sat next to her.

"Hayes, Jayden!" called Professor McGonagall.

The boy from the boat sat on the stool and it took a minute for the hat to decide that he was a Gryffindor.

Adriana clapped once for him and was slightly annoyed when he sat across from her. She won't be able to escape this guy, apparently.

The boy who lost his toad, Neville Longbottom tripped when he made his way to the stool, and had the hat placed on his head. It took a long time for the hat to decide that he was a Gryffindor.

Morag MacDougal went to Ravenclaw and Draco Malfoy went to Slytherin. Others were Sorted and then, "Potter, Harry!" was called.

"Did she just say Potter?" a girl whispered.

" _The_ Harry Potter?" a boy whispered.

Adriana was briefly annoyed and remembered her jealousy over her mother caring about him more than her. She placed her elbow on the table and placed her face on her hand, "Who cares?" She knew it was a stupid reason to hate him, but she couldn't help it. She'll probably grow out of her hatred of him.

Harry was on the stool for a few moments, but the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindors exploded in cheers, startling Adriana. The male prefect had gotten up and shook Harry's hand vigorously. The red-haired twin boys were yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down opposite of the ghost that wore the ruff, who patted his arm, and Adriana rolled her eyes. Dean Thomas, a black boy, was Sorted in Gryffindor, Lisa Turpin went to Ravenclaw, and Ron Weasley went to Gryffindor.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," the prefect told Ron as he sat in the chair next to Harry.

A black boy named Blaise Zabini was Sorted into Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Dumbledore stood up, his arms spread out, and beaming as if pleased to see them all there. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat down.

Adriana clapped with everyone else, and there were a few cheers. The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. There were roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and peppermint humbugs.

Adriana went for the lamp chops first, unfortunately, Jayden had the same idea, because they grabbed the same lamp chop at the same time. Adriana narrowed her eyes at him, and he did the same. She released the lamp chop and shoved the bowl at him, he looked a little startled. She was still feeling a little sore over the whole 'you think' comment and how he hated her for no reason.

She got pork chops and bacon instead. She felt a little guilty about shoving the bowl at Jayden and considered apologizing to him, but he was now glaring at her again. She didn't apologize to him.

Soon, the food disappeared and dessert reappeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour one could think off, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding, cream cakes…

Adriana and Jayden reached for the cream cakes. This time, Jayden shoved the plate at her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm half-and-half," Adriana heard Seamus say. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mum didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

The people surrounding him laughed at that.

"What about you, Neville?" asked Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," explained Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me—he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned—but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced—all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here—they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

Adriana felt bad for Neville. His family thought he was a Squib and his Great Uncle did all that, just to see if he had magic in him.

Fay turned to Adriana, "Hey, what about you, Adriana?"

Adriana choked on her cream cake at being addressed. "Oh, um…I'm pureblood. Or, I think a few consider my family blood-traitors because one of my grandmothers was the Minister and wanted to allow Muggle music in the wizarding world."

"I think I heard about that," Fay said. "I heard she lasted for three days as a Minister."

Adriana shrugged, "Three or two, I can't remember which."

"What about you, Jayden?" Fay asked, giving him a strange, starry eyed look, which made Adriana roll her eyes, in slight annoyance.

"I'm Muggle-born," Jayden responded. "I did a lot of reading."

Adriana figured that the conversation was done with her.

"Hey, is your dad's name, Finn?" Fay asked, looking at Adriana.

Adriana tensed up a little. "Why do you want to know?"

"Isn't he in Azkaban?" questioned Fay, looking interested.

"Why do you want to know?" Adriana asked a little more harshly, making fists. Her fingernails were digging into her palms.

"Did he kill two Muggles?" Fay asked.

"It's none of your business," said Adriana.

"That's enough," the female prefect said, turning to look at the tense situation down the table.

Adriana didn't like Fay very much, but apparently Fay didn't seem to notice how tense things were getting. Adriana wasn't hungry anymore and noticed that Jayden looked at her disgusted. She had her arms on the table and stared at her unfinished cream cake. Fay knew that her dad was a murderer. How long would it take for her to find out that Ryan was dead and Rita Skeeter's article saying that she allowed that hag to kill him? Who would Fay believe more, Skeeter's and Beatrix's version of events or Adriana's version? Adriana bit on a different knuckle this time, wondering what would happen if word got out that she supposedly stood by as a hag killed her brother. She noticed that Jayden was looking at her, a little more disgusted. Fay was looking at her, too, but a bit suspicious-like.

After a while, the desserts disappeared and Professor Dumbledore stood up, making the hall fall silent. He said, "Ahem—just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." He seemed to look at the red-haired twin boys.

He continued, "I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contract Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridors on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people laughed.

"Do you think he's being serious?" Jayden asked.

"How should I know? Apparently I don't think," Adriana snapped. She was wondering where all this anger was coming from.

"Excuse me for asking a question," Jayden muttered.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. He flicked wand, making a long golden ribbon shot out. It rose above the tables and twisted itself into words. "Everyone pick their favourite tune and off we go!"

Adriana couldn't focus on the song. What would happen if she ran into one of Ryan's friends? Would she get yelled at by them for supposedly standing by while the hag killed him?

Everyone finished the song at different time, however the two red-haired boys finished it at a very slow pace. Dumbledore had conducted their last few lines with his wand and he was the only one who clapped the loudest after they finished.

He wiped his eyes as he said, "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed the prefect through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. She noticed people in the portraits whispered and pointed at them as they passed. The prefect had led them through two doorways that were hidden being sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed up more staircases and then they were stopped, because a bundle of walking sticks were floating in midair ahead of them. When the prefect took a step toward the walking sticks, they were thrown at them.

"Peeves," the prefect whispered to them, "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves—show yourself." There was a loud sound, like the air being let out of a balloon. "Do you want me to go the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop and a little man with dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air. He was holding the walking sticks. "Ooh! Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped at them and they ducked. Adriana nearly got whacked because she ducked at the last minute. Peeves laughed.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" snapped the prefect.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's and Adriana's heads.

Jayden laughed, "I like him."

It sounded like the coats of armour were rattling.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said the prefect as they started walking again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him. He won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are." There was a huge portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress, at the end of the corridor.

"Password?" the woman asked as they walked up to it.

" _Caput Draconis_ ," said the prefect and the portrait swung forward, nearly hitting Adriana in the process.

The woman in the painted said, "Sorry, dear."

"It's okay," Adriana responded. She moved to get inside the round hole in the wall. She and the prefect helped Neville.

The common room was round and full of squashy armchairs.

The prefect directed the girls through one door to their dormitory. There was a spiral staircase that was in one of the towers.

The girls entered the room. There were five poster beds, covered in red eiderdowns and matching red curtains. There was a nightstand next to the bed and their school trunks were at the foot of their beds. There was a window that had a jug of water on the ledge, and off to the side of the room, was the bathroom.

Adriana had the bed that was in the corner, so she went over and open her trunk. She pulled out her thinning pajamas and closed the curtain. She got dressed and flopped down on her bed. She rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.

Ryan should've been at Hogwarts too. He should have been at the table, congratulating her on becoming a Gryffindor.

Tears prickled at her eyes. She wouldn't cry, especially not in a room with a bunch of girls. She didn't want to be known as the girl who cried on her first night at Hogwarts. Somehow, she managed to fall asleep.

* * *

A/N: The reason why Jayden's reacts to her like that will be explained a bit more in later chapters.


	5. The Potions Master

Chapter 4: **The Potions Master**

* * *

In the morning, Adriana woke up with the usual thoughts running through her head.

 _You're no good. You're pathetic. You're weak. You're useless. You're a disappointment. You're a murderer. You're a murderer. You're a murderer. Murder. Murderer._

 _Mum didn't give me away after giving birth to me. I'm at Hogwarts, now. I'm at Hogwarts._

She got out of bed, made it, and got dressed. There was some red-and-gold ties laid out on top of her trunk. She put one on and grabbed her messenger bag. She crammed all her books in the bag, just in case, since she didn't know which classes she was going to take that day. She plaited the right side of her bangs and tied the plait to the side of her head.

After that, she left the Gryffindor common room and nearly got turned around when she went to look for the Great Hall. The Gryffindor ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, or Nearly Headless Nick, had to show her where to go, although he walked or was it glided? right through the walls, which wasn't helpful.

Adriana walked in the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table. Jayden was already there, talking to two older Gryffindors. She got some toast, bacon, and a bowl of porridge.

Professor McGonagall passed her a timetable and she looked at it.

Since it was Tuesday, she had Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Transfiguration. She noticed that on Friday, they had Double Potions with Slytherin, and for a moment, she was excited for sharing a class with her two friends. She quickly ate her breakfast, before setting off to find the Charms classroom.

It turned out that there were a hundred and forty-two staircases: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that supposedly led somewhere different on a Friday, and some with a vanishing step halfway that she had to remember to jump. She was unfortunately a victim of the vanishing step and two older students had to pull her out of the step.

She managed to find the Charms corridor and the classroom she needed, where the class was meeting.

The bell rang and they went inside. It turned out the Professor Flitwick was a tiny wizard, who had to stand on a pile of books so he'll be able to see over his desk. When he took roll call, he gave an excited squeak when he reached Harry's name and toppled out of sight.

After Charms, it was Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was the unfortunate victim of a different trick staircase, which resulted in Ron, Hermione, and Parvati Patil having to yank her out, as Jayden snickered at her misfortune as he walked by. Then Neville ended up in the same position, despite knowing that there was a trick staircase there, so they had to pull him out.

"I think Defense Against the Dark Arts is going to be so much fun," Fay said to Lavender.

"I think so too," Lavender said. "I heard he had fought some vampires and a _hag_."

Adriana shuddered at the word 'hag'.

"Are you okay?" Fay asked, looking at Adriana.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Adriana lied.

When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, it smelt strongly of garlic, that made Adriana want to gag.

"It's supposed to ward off the vampire he met in Romania," Parvati said. "He's worried that it might come back to get him."

"How do you know this?" Adriana asked as they took seats.

"I listen to the older students," Parvati said. "Word spreads, just like how I know that your incident with the trick staircase wasn't the first incident."

Professor Quirrell came in as soon as the bell rang. He looked terrified when he saw the Gryffindors and stuttered as he took roll call.

Adriana almost missed her name, because she was to busy gaping at the absurd purple turban that he was wearing.

After the roll call was finished, Jayden raised his hand.

Quirrell stuttered, "Y-y-yes, M-M-Mr—"

"Hayes," Jayden responded. "I just want to know why you're wearing a turban."

"Oh, i-it was a thank-you present f-from an A-African P-Prince, for getting rid of a t-t-troublesome z-z-zombie," Quirrell stated.

Adriana leaned forward in her seat, eager to hear the story.

"How did you fight the zombie off?" Seamus asked eagerly.

Quirrell's face turned pink, "L-l-lovely weather we're h-h-having t-today, eh?"

Adriana sat back in her seat, a little annoyed about not hearing the story.

After class, they filed out.

"Well, that class is a big joke," Fay said.

"I'm going to need at least three showers to stop smelling like garlic," Adriana said.

"Oh, no, the horror of smelling like garlic," Jayden said as he passed by.

"Shut up, Sunshine," Adriana said, "I wasn't even speaking to you." Fay and Lavender were smirking. Adriana was confused at their reactions, "What?"

Fay shook her head, "Nothing."

After lunch, they went to Herbology, a subject that Adriana was dreading, because she could just her mother saying, _You'll kill the plants, just like how you killed Ryan._ Herbology was taught by Professor Sprout, a dumpy little witch, with grey flyaway hair. She had lectured them about some of the plants, motioning to them, and had them take down some notes. She had assigned them homework, which was writing down the origins of the plants she taught them.

After that was Transfiguration.

It turned out that Professor McGonagall really was strict. As soon as they sat down, she said, "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." As an demonstration, she turned her desk into a pig and back again.

Adriana was impressed at the display and was eager to learn how to do that, but realized that they weren't going to turn furniture into animals anytime soon, which was disappointing. She had to take complicated notes, and they were given a match to turn into a needle.

At the end of the lesson, Hermione had made her match pointy at the end, Adriana had made the middle part of the match silver, and Jayden had made one side silver. Professor McGonagall had given Hermione a rare smile and showed it off to the class.

After dinner, Adriana went to the library to get started on Professor Sprout's homework assignment and write her mother a letter.

She found a seat and opened her _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ to look for Devil's Snare. She jumped when she heard someone sit loudly at her table.

"I _hate_ History of Magic," a familiar voice said. It was Flora and Hestia. They were slumped in the chairs at the table. Flora exhaled loudly, "Professor Binns just goes on and on and on…"

"And on…" Hestia said. "He has this monotone. I nearly fell asleep."

"Ryan didn't tell me that it was going to be _that_ boring," Adriana said.

"We heard that you got stuck in two different trick staircases," Flora said.

"Yeah," Adriana replied, "Neville got stuck it in after I got removed from it."

"Talk about rotten luck." Flora said and laughed loudly.

The underfed, vulture looking librarian scowled in their direction, which made them giggle. It felt strange to actually laugh. Adriana actually couldn't remember the last time she had laughed.

"We got lost at one point," Flora said to Adriana, after she calmed down.

Adriana asked, "Really?"

"Yeah, we asked this one ghost, and he locked us in a room, and we nearly went down a trick staircase," Flora said.

"He dropped a wastepaper basket on me," Hestia said.

"I think that's Peeves, the poltergeist," Adriana responded.

Flora sighed, "Of course. I heard about him."

"I think he threw chalk at Draco," Hestia said, giggling, "Serves the git right. He thinks he owns the school because his dad works on the Hogwarts Board of Governors." She rolled her eyes. She put on a fake male voice, "'Oh, look at me, I'm Draco Malfoy, my dad works on the Hogwarts Board of Governors, I can do what I want and get away with it.'"

Adriana buried her face in her arms as she laughed. It was making her feel better. She heard about the Malfoys and how they were supposedly Death Eaters, but got off free, because Lucius Malfoy said he had been controlled to do it. In her opinion, she wasn't sure what to think about the Malfoys. She was safe from harm out in the country in the manor.

"There's a rumour being said that your dad killed two Muggles," Hestia said.

"Yeah, he did," Adriana said, looking at her parchment. "I barely remember him, because I was five when he got taken away. I don't know why he did it." Well, her mother said it was because Adriana drove him away.

"There's no shame in it," Flora said. "Our aunt and uncle are Death Eaters. They were quite the sadistic ones."

Flora added, "Not to the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange or You-Know-Who, though."

The librarian walked over to them. "If you three are going to socialize, I'm going to ask you to leave the library." She looked like she was seething.

Adriana packed up her bag, muttered a quick, 'sorry' to her and the three left the library.

The two Slytherins were cackling with laughter. Hestia said, "I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head."

"Did you see how red her face was?" Flora asked, wiping her eyes.

In a way, Adriana thought that it was actually kind of funny. "I probably should go back to my common room, though."

"We'll save you a seat for Potions tomorrow," Flora said as the two Slytherins walked off, still giggling over what happened.

Adriana went to the Gryffindor portrait, but ended up getting stuck in one of the trick staircases. She crossed her arms and seethed over the fact that she got stuck in the staircase and wondered how long she was going to be stuck there.

"I swear, you're just doing that on purpose," Jayden said.

Adriana rolled her eyes. Why was it that he kept being everywhere she looked? She responded sarcastically, "Ah, yes, I just _love_ getting stuck in these damn staircases. It's _so_ much fun."

"Or you do it for attention," Jayden responded.

Adriana motioned to the deserted staircase, "For whose attention?" She pointed at one portrait, "The portraits?" Jayden started walking away, "Thanks for your help, _Jade_!"

"Don't call me that!" Jayden shouted.

"Whatever!" Adriana called back.

Eventually she did get help from Filch, the caretaker, who was agitated about it.

* * *

On Friday, Ron and Harry ended up sitting close by to Adriana for breakfast.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," responded Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them—we'll be able to see if it's true."

"Wish McGonagall favoured us," replied Harry. Professor McGonagall was the head of Gryffindor House, however that didn't mean squat to them, since she assigned them a huge pile of homework the day before.

The mail arrived, with hundreds of owls flying into the Great Hall, and circling the tables to find their owners.

Adriana wasn't even expecting anything from her mother. She did send out a letter detailing that she made it in Gryffindor and that Harry was in the same House, but she wasn't expecting anything.

Harry seemed to have noticed Adriana's lack of letters. He sighed and asked, "You too, huh?"

"Yeah," Adriana said, nodding.

Harry's white owl fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note on Harry's plate and the boy ripped the note open.

Adriana looked down at her plate.

Of course, the universe had to make a fool out of her. She was probably the only one who didn't receive a letter. The only consolation she had was Potions with Hestia and Flora.

"Hey," Harry said, getting Adriana's attention. Adriana looked at him. "Do you want to come down with Ron and me to Hagrid's hut?"

Adriana was confused. "Who?"

"The Keeper and Grounds," Harry said. "The guy who held the lantern for us at Hogsmeade Station."

Adriana thought about it. "Oh, that guy." She frowned, "Why do you want me to go with you?"

"You've been moping around, lately," Harry said and shrugged. "I thought you want some cheering up, since you haven't received any letters, too. If you don't want to go…"

"I'll go," Adriana said quickly. She couldn't help but smile.

"It's at three on Friday," Harry said.

"Okay," said Adriana, "Thanks."

After eating, she went down to the dungeons, where Potions took place, which was colder than the rest of the castle. There were pickled animals floating in glass jars lining the shelves around the walls.

She waited until the class showed up before walking in. She went and sat at a table with Hestia and Flora. She said, "I don't think I can hang out with you two at three."

"Why?" asked Flora, confused.

"I'm going down to Hagrid's hut with Ron and Harry," Adriana said.

Hestia said, "Oh, okay."

" _Adriana_ _Frost,_ " Professor Snape called, saying her name with much hatred, that Adriana was surprised to hear that someone else, other than Beatrix, can say it with that much hatred.

"Yes, Mother?" Adriana asked, looking up at the professor. She winced at what she said. "I mean, yes, sir?"

Snape narrowed his eyes at the brunette girl. "Let's hope you're a lot more…subdued than your foolish brother. And I suggest you pay attention in my class."

Adriana was sure that Jayden was the one who snickered a few classmates down.

Adriana gripped the table with both hands and spoke through gritted teeth, "Ryan _wasn't_ foolish." She wondered what he meant by 'subdued' though.

Snape continued with roll call and paused at Harry's name. "Ah, yes, Harry Potter, our new— _celebrity_."

Draco Malfoy and his two tablemates muffled their laughter.

After Snape finished with roll call, he looked at the class. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." He spoke in a whisper, but Adriana managed to catch every word. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Adriana held her breath, waiting for the professor to speak some more. It had gotten her attention.

"Potter!" called Snape. It almost made Adriana jump in her seat. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione's had shot in the air.

 _Draught of Living Death_ , Adriana thought. She looked at Hermione. The professor was addressing Harry, not her, so she should put her hand down.

"I don't know, sir," replied Harry.

"Tut, tut—fame clearly isn't everything," Snape sneered. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you find me a bezoar?"

 _In the stomach of a goat_ , Adriana thought. She noticed Hermione stretching her arm out. _Put your hand down!_ She heard Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle snickering, and trying to muffle it.

"I don't know, sir," Harry replied again.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape said. "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

 _They're the same thing,_ Adriana thought.

"I don't know," replied Harry in a quiet voice. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

Hermione was now standing up, raising her arm as high as she can make it go.

"Sit down," Snape snapped at Hermione, before he looked at Harry. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood making a sleeping potion so powerful, it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for the monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name aconite." He looked around at the class. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Adriana took parchment, ink, and a quill from her bag. She hurriedly copied it down, nearly knocking the ink over in the process, but Hestia managed to grab it.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter," Snape said. After they finished writing, Snape said, "I want you all to pair up and make a simple Boil Curing potion." With a flick of his wand, instructions appeared on the chalkboard.

Flora and Fay ended up paired up, while Hestia and Adriana were partners.

Adriana was crushing snake fangs as Hestia weighed dried nettles.

"Not so close to the fire, foolish girl," Snape snarled as he pulled Adriana back. He looked at Hestia, "Move your elbow away from the cauldron."

Hestia moved her elbow. Snape walked away and Hestia whispered, "Hey, I forgot to ask, but did you hear about the Gringotts Break-In?"

"I think I read about it," Adriana said. "Who's stupid enough to try and rob Gringotts?"

"I don't know," Hestia said. "My mum sent me a newspaper clipping with an update. The person, who tried to rob it wasn't found, and the goblins reassure us that nothing had been stolen."

"When did the break-in happen, again?" asked Adriana.

"If you two are going to socialize, take it outside and don't distract anyone else with your unimportant talk," Snape snarled, appearing beside them.

"Sorry, sir," Adriana said at once. She went to stew some horned slugs. She could've sworn she heard Jayden snicker.

"Sorry, sir," Hestia said. Snape walked away and Hestia muttered, "Sorry that you have a stick shoved up your arse."

Adriana bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Everything went to hell when Neville Longbottom's potion caused a hole to burn through the cauldron and spilt potion out on the floor. Adriana scrambled up onto her stool, to avoid getting what was probably acidic potion on her shoes or robes. Her mother would never send her a spare pair of shoes.

Adriana looked at Neville, who had been sprayed by the potion and had red boils sprouting on his arms. If it wasn't going to be Neville, it would've been her.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape. He cleared the potion with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started popping up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape ordered Seamus. He rounded on Harry and Ron, who were working next to Neville. "You—Potter—why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

An hour later, they left the dungeon.

"Why does Snape hate Harry so much?" Flora asked.

 _Why does my mum hate me?_ Adriana thought. "Maybe some people just don't click."

"Maybe," Hestia muttered.

* * *

Five minutes before three, Adriana, Ron, and Harry walked down the lawn to Hagrid's hut.

"Why are you friends with those two Slytherins?" Ron asked.

"They're nice to me," Adriana said feeling a little uncomfortable. "They make me laugh. I can't recall when the last time I actually laughed. I think it was after—" She cut herself off. She said too much and she still couldn't figure out when the last time she laughed was.

"' _After_?'" prompted Ron.

Adriana looked at Harry, "I'm sorry that Snape singled you out like that."

Harry looked taken aback.

Hagrid lived in a small wooden hut at the edge of the forest. Adriana shuddered at the sight, remembering the last time she had entered the woods. She jumped when she heard a dog barking.

"Back, Fang— _back!_ " a gruff voice ordered.

The door opened a crack and Adriana made out a face that was hidden beneath a tangled beard and hair. The man said, "Hang on. _Back_ , Fang." He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.

Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner was a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang. Fang went straight to Ron and started licking Ron's ears. Fang was apparently not as fierce as he looked.

"This is Ron," Harry said to Hagrid, who started pouring boiling water in a large teapot and putting rock cakes on a plate. "This is Adriana."

Hagrid looked at Ron, "Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the Forest." He looked at Adriana, "So yer Adriana."

"You know me?" asked Adriana in a whisper. This couldn't be good.

"I remember yer brother," Hagrid said. "He loved the outdoors. Came by plenty of times. Talked highly of you. Said yer smart and talented. Said how much he hated how yer mother—"

"He really said that?" interrupted Adriana, not wanting the other two Gryffindors to know anything about her mother. "He never said anything like that to my face."

Hagrid chuckled, "I s'pose so. He was proud of yeh. Planned how taking you far away from yer mother when he came of age."

Adriana couldn't help but sniffle at that. "He did?"

"Yeah," said Hagrid. Adriana noticed how uncomfortable Harry and Ron looked. Hagrid passed them a plate of rock cakes.

Adriana took one and bit into it. Well, she tried, but it was hard and she was sure she chipped some teeth on it. She pretended that she enjoyed them. They talked about their first lessons and Adriana did enjoy Charms and Herbology. She was pleased to know that those were two of Ryan's favourite subjects.

Fang had rested Hagrid's his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.

Hagrid had called Filch an old and wanted to introduce Mrs Norris to Fang some time, because the cat followed Hagrid everywhere in the castle.

Harry proceeded to talk about the Potions lesson and how Snape seemed to hate him, because Snape didn't like any of his students.

"But he seemed to really _hate_ me," said Harry. He glanced at Adriana, and, "And Adriana's brother."

"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"

"Apparently Ryan was hyperactive in Snape's class and he called Ryan foolish," Adriana said.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I like him a lot-great with animals."

Ron talked about Charlie's work with dragons and Adriana felt relieved that Hagrid hadn't asked about Ryan. Harry picked up something from underneath the tea cosy and Adrianna looked at it. It was from the _Daily Prophet_.

 _GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

 _Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believe to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.  
Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.  
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon._

"Hey, that happened when I was at Diagon Alley!" exclaimed Adriana. "Hestia mentioned something about a break-in in Potions."

"That happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there, too!" said Harry.

Hagrid grunted and offered them another rock cake.

"It could've happened while my mum and I were in there getting money," said Adriana growing excited.

Ron looked vaguely uncomfortable.

* * *

They walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes.

"You were at Diagon Alley, too, on the 31st? Was it your birthday too?" Harry asked Adriana.

Adriana was uncomfortable, "Er, no. My birthday's on January first. My mum wanted to go at a later date."

"Why?" asked Ron.

Adriana grew more uncomfortable at that. "She wanted to wait to get my robes to make sure I didn't outgrow them."

"But on the 31st?" Ron asked.

Adriana shrugged, "I don't question why my mum does the things she does. Or says."

* * *

At dinner, Harry and Ron discussed the break-in, while Adriana kept thinking about Ryan. She played with her spoon as she stared at her plate. Ryan was probably a troublemaker for Snape's class, and he wanted to take her away from her mother when he came of age. She didn't doubt that he cared about her, but she was pleased to know that he hated the unfair treatment that Beatrix doled out.

"Are you okay?" Jayden asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Adriana said, "Just thinking."

"That's a shock," Jayden muttered.

Adriana rolled her eyes.


	6. Flying Lessons

Chapter 5: **Flying Lessons**

* * *

On Saturday, early in the morning, Adriana had written her mother about her week so far. She wrote about all of her classes, wrote about the turban that Professor Quirrell wore and how it smelt like garlic, wrote about her two friends, and wrote about having tea with Hagrid, Harry, and Ron. She had considered putting in the stuff about Ryan, and how he seemed to look the outdoors and how he was apparently hyperactive in Snape's class, but she was sure that her mother wouldn't believe that. She also knew that her mother wouldn't write back to her, but she couldn't help but hope that maybe Beatrix will write back to her.

She went up to the Owlery, after being given directions by Percy Weasley, the prefect, who was way to happy to give her directions. Adriana momentarily hated how pleased Percy looked, because that should have been her brother giving her directions.

She knew that she was being petty and hated herself for being like this. Maybe that's why her mother hates her. She was petty, useless, worthless, and a murder.

She ignored those thoughts and went up to the Owlery. The Owlery was a wide, circular stone room that was rather cold and drafty, because there wide holes on one wall, that didn't have glass in there. There were perches were owls and school owls were sleeping. There was hay, regurgitated skeletons, and owl droppings on the floor, so Adriana had to watch where she was stepping.

She looked around at the different types of school owls to use. Calling an owl down from the rafters was going to be a bit of a problem. She was just calling down an owl when the door to the Owlery opened and Hestia and Flora walked in.

"Having a problem, there?" Hestia said.

"I can't get any of these owls down," Adriana said.

"You can borrow Pagan. She would love to deliver your letter." Flora said and called down the grey owl. Flora held onto Pagan as Hestia tied a letter around the owl's leg. Pagan was standing still, and if possible, she seemed smug, as if she was proud that she was chosen to deliver letters, instead of those lesser owls being picked.

"Oh, I don't want to be rude," Adriana said.

"Pagan would love to deliver a letter for a friend," Hestia said. "She loves traveling to new places."

Adriana hesitated and tied her letter around the owl's other leg. "Please send that to Frost Manor." She gave the owl the name of the country she lived in and the owl nipped Adriana's wrist, in what Adriana hoped was a sign of affection.

"She likes you," Flora said, grinning.

"At least someone does," Adriana muttered to herself.

Hestia looked confused at that, "What?"

"Nothing," Adriana said quickly.

Hestia started, "You just said—"

"Let's get breakfast," Adriana said quickly, in an unnaturally high-pitched voice.

Flora and Hestia took Pagan to the window, where the owl flew away.

Flora linked arms with her sister and Adriana's, leading them out of the Owlery.

It was really pleasant, having friends. She suddenly squashed that down; they wouldn't be her friend if they knew. If Beatrix cared about the fact that Adriana had friends, Beatrix would make sure that Flora and Hestia knew the truth and make sure that they would never get her side of the story.

* * *

It was on Thursday when Adriana saw the notice on the Gryffindor bulletin board. They were starting flying lessons, which she was excited for. However, the first year Gryffindors groaned because they were having flying lessons with Slytherin.

"Typical," she heard Harry say in a dark tone. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"You don't know if you would make a fool of yourself," Ron said. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

"I heard differently," Adriana said. She nearly winced when Harry and Ron looked at her. "I mean, Flora and Hestia told me that he's nearly as good as he brags about. There was no incident about this Muggle 'helicopter' that he keeps mentioning. He just makes himself out to be important because of his dad."

"What about you?" Ron asked.

"Are you good at flying?" Harry asked looking at her.

Adriana shook her head at that. "My mother never wanted me to fly and I never owned a broomstick. My brother, Ryan, had let me fly his broomstick a few times, but I got yelled at when our mother found out."

Ron arched an eyebrow, "Really? You _never_ owned a broomstick?"

 _She didn't want to spend money on me,_ Adriana thought, but she nodded. "Yeah. She's very…" she had to think of something, "knut-pinching when it comes to money."

Draco Malfoy did talk about flying a lot. Adriana had heard him complaining about how first-years weren't allowed on the house Quidditch team. He had told very long and very boring, boastful stories that always ended up with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.

* * *

As the days passed, Adriana had to listen to Seamus Finnigan telling her about how he spent his childhood flying along the countryside on his broomstick. She listened to Hestia and Flora telling some Slytherins and Hufflepuffs about them having broomstick races when they were younger. Even Ron had told Adriana about how he almost hit a hang glider on his older brother's old broom.

Adriana had heard from Neville that Ron and Dean Thomas had gotten into an argument about football, which she was confused over. Jayden, in a condescending manner, explained what football was. Apparently Ron didn't see what was exciting about a game that involved one ball and no broomsticks.

Neville had never been on a broomstick, because of his accident-proneness, so his grandmother never let him near one. Hestia and Flora told Adriana that it was for the best.

Adriana, Flora, and Hestia seen Hermione checking out _Quidditch Through the Ages_. The Gryffindor girl had see Hermione reading the book in bed, before lights out.

* * *

It was on Thursday, when Hermione was giving out flying tips at breakfast. Neville was hanging onto her every word. Hermione was in the middle of saying something about the broom when the mail arrived.

Adriana still hadn't gotten a response from her mother, which she was disappointed over, but not shocked. She noticed that Harry hadn't gotten anything since that one day.

A barn owl had swooped down, giving Neville a small package. He opened it and showed them what looked to be a large marble that seemed to be filled with white smoke.

Adriana leaned down to examine it more closely.

"It's a Remembrall!" Neville explained. "Gran knows I forget things—this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this—" he demonstrated, "And it turns red—" the Remembrall glowed scarlet and Neville looked dejected, "You've forgotten something…" He looked like he was trying to remember what it was.

Adriana started to say, "You forgot your—"

Malfoy suddenly snatched the Remembrall from Neville's hand.

Adriana sank down in her seat, fighting the urge to fight him, but lost since she had felt a sudden surge of anger, making her get to her feet. She pointed a fork and shouted, "You give that back you little snot-nosed b—"

"What's going on?" Professor McGonagall demanded showing up at the table, eyeing the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Harry and Ron had stood up too, both looking eager to fight Malfoy.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," Neville said.

Malfoy dropped the Remembrall back on the table. He muttered, "Just looking," and walked away with his cronies.

"'Just looking for a reason to bully you,'" Adriana said to Neville, sitting back down, the anger dissipating. She moved some scrambled eggs around on her plate with her fork, wondering where all that anger was coming from. The lack of a response from her mother had ruined her appetite, even though she knew that her mother wasn't going to reply. Maybe she was angry that her mother hadn't bothered to respond.

"Thanks for attempting to stick up for me," Neville said sounding thankful.

"Any time," Adriana said smiling at him.

* * *

At three-twenty, Hestia and Flora dragged Adriana down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. They wanted to get there early to get to the good brooms.

It was a pleasant day, because the sky was clear and there was breeze blowing through. They walked down the sloping lawns onto a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds that was next to the forbidden forest. The trees were swaying in the distance.

Adriana had overheard Fred and George complain about the school brooms. Some had vibrated when flown too high and some flown slightly to the left.

The Gryffindors appeared and then Madam Hooch, who had short, grey hair, and yellow hawk-like eyes.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Madam Hooch barked at them. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Adriana looked down at her broomstick, which had a few twigs missing and had small cracks in it.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom, and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch called out.

"Up!" they all shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once. Hermione's broom rolled on the ground and Neville's broom didn't move.

Adriana shouted, "Up!" one more time. She could just picture her mother sneering, " _Pathetic. You can't even get your broom in your hand on the first time you say 'up'?_ " Adriana cringed at the thought and said, "Up!" The broom jumped into her hand. She grinned at Hestia and Flora.

Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end. She walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Adriana, Hestia, and Flora snickered when she told Malfoy that he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle—three—two—"

Neville pushed off the ground, before Madam Hooch's whistle had touched her lips.

"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted, but Neville shot straight up into the air. He was twelve feet up—now twenty feet.

"Don't look down, Neville!" Adriana shouted; worried over what might up to the Gryffindor. It wasn't her fault, but she was sure that her mother would find a reason to blame her anyway.

Neville looked down and then slipped sideways off the broom with a thud and a nasty crack, Neville lay face-down on the grass in a heap. However, his broomstick was still flying higher and higher, before it drifted off toward the forbidden forest.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face white. She muttered, "Broken wrist, come on, boy—it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville was clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

Once they were out of earshot, Malfoy started laughing. "Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The Slytherins minus Hestia and Flora, joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil looking angry.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Go to hell, Pansy," Adriana said growing angry.

"You too, Adriana?" shrieked Pansy and laughed. "I never expected you to like them, too."

"You don't know me, so shut up!" Adriana shouted. It was odd. She didn't know where this anger was coming from. She had felt it before, but this was odd.

"Look!" Malfoy exclaimed, getting their attention. He ran forward and grabbed something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." He was sneering as he held up the Remembrall.

Adriana opened her mouth, ready to say something, feeling that anger building again, but Harry said, "Give that here, Malfoy." He said it so quietly that Adriana barely heard him.

Malfoy gave a nasty smile. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about—up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy got on his broomstick and flew off.

He did fly well, Adriana noticed. He was now hovering with the topmost branches of an oak tree. He called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom and Hermione shouted, "No! Madam Hooch told us not to move—you'll get us all into trouble."

Harry mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground. He soared up and up. His robes whipped out behind him…He went a little higher and Adriana couldn't help but gasp a little and Flora did a little scream. Hestia clapped.

It looked like Malfoy was stunned and Harry said something to him. Malfoy looked a little worried and then Harry shot towards Malfoy, who got out of the way. Harry turned, coming face-to-face with Malfoy.

Hestia and Adriana clapped.

"He's amazing," Flora said sounding awed. Malfoy threw the Remembrall into the air and streaked towards the ground. Harry streaked after Remembrall, his hand held out. There were screams of horror and about a foot above ground, Harry caught it, and pulled forward, before rolling safely on the grass.

"Harry Potter!" shouted Professor McGonagall, who was running to them. Harry stood up. "Never—in all my time at Hogwarts—" Professor McGonagall looked near speechless. She continued, "—how dare you—might have broken your neck—"

Parvati started, "It wasn't his fault, Professor—"

Adriana said at the same time as Parvati spoke, "It was Malfoy's fault—"

Professor McGonagall interrupted, "Be quiet, Miss Patil and Miss Frost—"

Ron started, "But Malfoy—"

"That's enough, Mr Weasley. Potter, follow me, now," Professor McGonagall interrupted sounding sharp.

Adriana noticed how smug Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looked as Harry followed after McGonagall. Adriana wasn't sure what to do. Harry might get expelled and her mother would blame her for not trying to stop him. Her mother would probably say, _"It's your fault that you didn't stop him. Why are you so useless?"_ Adriana sighed at that thought. Even away from her mother, her mother still has a way of getting to her.

Before chaos erupted, Madam Hooch returned, walking across the grass.

"Is he going to be okay?" Adriana asked, suddenly worried about Neville.

"He'll be okay," Madam Hooch said, "Lessons dismissed."

With that, they headed back to the castle.

Hestia and Flora went to Adriana.

Flora seemed confused, "What put you in a bad mood today?"

Adriana shrugged, "I…don't know. I just felt…angry all of a sudden."

Hestia said, "It could be puberty."

Adriana wasn't sure about that because it seemed to be more complicated than puberty.

* * *

Adriana was looking through her journal at dinner that evening. Sometimes she liked looking back on the earliest journal entries. This time, she was looking at the very first journal entry, from 1986, a few days before her sixth birthday. It was riddled with misspellings and was barely legible.

 _December 30, 1985  
3:20 P.M._

 _My dad gave me this journal early, because he said he wanted to see me smile, especially after the fight that he and Mother had._

 _I have no one to talk to, besides you._

 _So, it's just me and you, journal._

 _Welcome to my pathetic life._

 _—_ _A.F._

She looked up and noticed that Ron held his fork halfway to his mouth. "Seeker? But first years never—you must be the youngest house player in about—"

"—a century," finished Harry, shoveling pie in his mouth. "Wood told me."

"Who's Wood?" Adriana asked confused.

"The Quidditch captain," Harry told her.

Ron was gaping at Harry.

"I start training next week," continued Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

The Weasley twins walked in and hurried over. The two spoke to Harry and Ron in a low voice for a minute, before they left. In their place, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared.

"Having a last meal, Potter?" Malfoy asked. "When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," replied Harry in a cold tone.

Adriana felt that familiar anger rising up and tried to fight it back down. She looked through the pages again, stopping on one.

 _July 12th, 1989  
10:58 p.m._

 _I wonder if Ryan notices how much our mother hates me. He must've noticed how much attention and compliments she gives him, but she criticizes me and insults me. There are times when it seems like he notices how unfair things are. Like last year, when we went to get Hogwarts supplies, we were at the ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley_

"What is a wizard's duel?" Harry asked. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"A second is your replacement after you die," Adriana said.

"But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards," Ron said.

"All you'll probably do is send sparks at each other or some of the hexes and jinxes we learned," Adriana said.

"Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway," Ron said.

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" asked Harry.

"Toss your wand at him as a distraction and punch him in the stomach, then run in the other direction," Adriana offered.

"Or punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.

"Excuse me," a female said.

Adriana looked up to see Hermione.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" demanded Ron.

Hermione ignored him as she spoke to Harry, "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying—"

"Bet you could," Ron muttered.

"—and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night," Hermione said. "Think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And if they lose points, it's their fault," Adriana said. "All you can say is that you tried and they didn't listen. Boys never do."

"Thanks for sticking up for us, Adriana," said Harry darkly at Adriana. He looked at Hermione, "And it's really none of your business."

"Good-bye," added Ron.

Adriana looked at Hermione. "So, do you have any news on Neville?"

* * *

Adriana was up writing in her journal in the dorm room by candlelight.

 _September 12, 1991_  
 _10:55 p.m._

 _I have felt angry twice today. I don't know where it came from. It was a little odd and kind of unnerving. I don't think it's because_

"I can't believe this," Hermione said pacing.

Adriana looked up at her, "What?"

"Them," Hermione said. "I can't believe that they still want to go duel Malfoy. And I told them not to do it. I don't want to lose the points that I got from McGonagall."

Adriana was growing agitated. "I don't care. It's their fault if they lose the points. They believed Malfoy wants to duel them."

"Someone has to put a stop to this," Hermione continued pacing.

"Tell Percy, I don't care," Adriana said.

"And you encouraged them," Hermione accused.

"Tell Percy or stop them yourself. I. Don't. Care," Adriana grounded out.

"And they ignored me," Hermione continued.

"My mum ignores me all the bloody time and you don't see me complaining about it," Adriana snapped.

Hermione looked startled at that. "She does?"

 _She also talks down at me, insults me, and tells me to my face that I'm a disappointment and a failure, but I don't complain openly about it._ Adriana thought and she shrugged. She muttered, "Sorry." She looked at Hermione. "Just…go wait outside for them to leave. Don't fall asleep."

"Good idea," Hermione said, pulling on her pink bathrobe, before leaving. Adriana flopped back on her bed and groaned. She set the journal and quill aside and blew out the candle.


	7. Hallowe'en

Chapter 6: **Hallowe'en**

* * *

The next day, it looked like Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were tired. Something must've happened, because Hermione and Neville weren't speaking to Harry and Ron. Adriana looked at the two Gryffindor boys, "I'm assuming that you two did go to Malfoy's duel?"

"He didn't show," Ron said.

"That figures," Adriana said. She noticed how Jayden was giving her strange looks. She ignored him.

"But we found something interesting," Harry said.

"I'll bite," said Adriana, "What did you find?"

"Well, it turns out that there's a three-headed dog locked in the third-floor corridor," Ron said.

Adriana gaped at that, "really?" She looked at them, hoping it wasn't some sort of joke. That would make sense.

"Come on," Ron said. "Would we ever lie to you?"

"You don't even know me," Adriana countered.

"Yes, we do," said Ron. "You have an older brother named Ryan, Snape hates him and thinks he's foolish, Ryan wants to take you somewhere far away from your mother, your friends with those two Slytherin girls, and your mother is a knut-pincher and got mad when she found out you flew on Ryan's broomstick."

Adriana almost rolled her eyes. "I mean, personally."

"Oh," replied Ron. "Do your Slytherin friends know you personally?"

"A little," replied Adriana, "And they have names. Their names are Flora and Hestia."

"Oh," replied Ron. "Which one is which?"

Adriana sighed and said, "So, why is there a three-headed dog doing in Hogwarts?"

"Hermione says that it was standing on a trapdoor," Harry said.

"So it has to be guarding something," Adriana said. "Hogwarts is the safest place. It makes perfect sense. The question is; what is it guarding?"

"I have an idea on what it might be guarding," said Harry.

Adriana was surprised at that. "You do?"

He told Adriana and Ron about how a package that Hagrid got from a vault in Gringotts was probably moved to Hogwarts and that it looked to be about two inches long.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or both," said Harry.

"It could be something that my mother is doing," Adriana said.

"What?" asked Ron.

"She works as an Unspeakable," said Adriana.

"Oh, you can ask her, then," said Ron and Adriana snorted. "What?"

The owls poured in and started circling the room, searching for their owners.

"As you can see, my mother hasn't even sent me anything," said Adriana.

"Yeah, why is that?" asked Ron.

"My mother…" Adriana started and tried to come up with an excuse. "She's extremely busy." There, that settled it. "Like I said, she works as an Unspeakable."

Ron nodded as if it made sense. "Cool."

Harry was looking at her in a strange way and Adriana grew slightly uncomfortable at that. She slathered marmalade on her toast, when the owls swooped in. She couldn't help but look up to see a few owls carrying a long, thin package. For a moment, she felt jealous that Harry got a broomstick and she didn't. She couldn't be jealous over a friend. Could she actually consider the two boys friends? They seemed to think off her as friends since they bothered to catch her up on the three-headed dog. A letter had dropped on Harry's plate and he opened it. For a few seconds he looked gleeful and passed the note to Ron.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned sounding jealous. "I never even touched one!"

"I never touched one, too. Do you honestly think my mother would buy me something like that?" Adriana said and winced when she realized she had said too much.

At least the two boys were overjoyed to notice because the three left the hall together as quickly as possible. She wanted to see the Nimbus Two Thousand and thankfully they didn't find her presence to odd. Halfway across the entrance hall, they found the staircase barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Adriana sighed as Malfoy grabbed Harry's broomstick and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," said Malfoy spitefully and maybe even jealousy. "You'll be for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."

"It's not any old broomstick," Ron said.

"Yeah, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand," Adriana said. "What was it that you have again?"

"A Comet Two Sixty," said Ron grinning at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley? You couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

"Not arguing, I hope, boys and girl?" Professor Flitwick squeaked appearing at Malfoy's elbow.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," stated Malfoy quickly.

"Rat," Adriana muttered.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said the professor, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstance, Potter. And what model is it?"

"He got a Nimbus Two Thousand and Malfoy should get the credit for Harry getting it," said Adriana.

As they headed upstairs, Malfoy yelled, "If you're not careful, Frost, you could end up in the same situation as your father!"

Adriana stopped next to Crabbe. What did Malfoy know about her father? "I heard worse, Malfoy!"

The three Gryffindors went upstairs to find a corridor.

"Ignore him," Harry said to Adriana. "I highly doubt he knows anything about your father."

"I bet he does," Adriana said worried. "He uses his dad to get information out of everyone."

Ron stated, "I heard that your dad killed two Muggles."

"He did," Adriana stated cringing a little at that. "I was five, so I don't why he did it." She could still hear her mother saying, " _You caused your father to leave, you ungrateful little troll._ "

"So, I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the broomstick in Harry's hand.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" asked Harry.

"Yes, don't stop now. It's doing us so much good," said Ron.

They found an empty corridor and they pulled the wrapping off the broomstick. They looked at the Nimbus. It was made of mahogany. It looked sleek and shiny, and had a tail of neat, straight twigs. Nimbus Two Thousand was written in gold near the top of the handle.

"My god, it's beautiful," Adriana said. She wanted to reach out and grab the broomstick, but she could hear her mother's voice saying that she would break it. She didn't and settled for staring in awe at the broomstick.

"Well, I better go put it up for training later," Harry said grabbing the broomstick.

"Oh, good luck with training," Adriana said.

"Thanks," said Harry.

* * *

A month had passed since Adriana got to Hogwarts. She had settled in a routine of studying and doing homework with Hestia and Flora in the library. She did send updates to her mother, knowing that Beatrix wouldn't write back.

So, on the morning of Hallowe'en she woke up to the smell of pumpkin wafting through the corridors. It smelt delicious. Adriana felt a little gloomy because Hallowe'en was Ryan's favourite holiday, so in order to celebrate it, she put orange and black striped knee-high socks on to celebrate Ryan's holiday.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick announced that he thought that they were ready to make objects fly, a charm that Adriana had managed to master over the summer.

Professor Flitwick announced that he would have them get in pairs as he passed out feathers.

Adriana didn't care if she had to work with Neville, she was sure that she would make Professor Flitwick proud. She would've taken Seamus Finnigan or Ron or even Faye.

"Okay, Mr Hayes and Miss Frost you two are pairs," Professor Flitwick said.

"What?" deadpanned Adriana as Professor Flitwick continued pairing up the students.

Ron and Hermione got paired up, but Adriana couldn't tell who was angrier about it, since Hermione hadn't spoke to Harry or Ron since the broomstick arrived.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising," said Professor Flitwick. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Barffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Jayden had moved over to sit next to Adriana.

The two first-years proceeded to sit in silence, while the rest of the class tried doing the Levitation Charm. Adriana didn't want to speak to Jayden or even ask if he wanted to go first.

A few minutes had passed when Professor Flitwick walked up to them. "Problem Mr Hayes and Miss Frost?"

"We're not sure who goes first," Adriana lied.

"Oh, well, Mr Hayes goes first," Professor Flitwick said and continued to observe the class.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," said Jayden, flicking and swishing his wand. He tried it a few more times.

"You're not doing the correct wrist motion," Adriana told him, trying not to sound agitated at how she was paired with him.

"You do it then, if you know so much about it," Jayden snapped at her.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled at Hermione.

Adriana glanced at Hermione and said, " _Wingardium Leviosa_." The feather slowly lifted in the air.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. Adriana couldn't help but smile. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

The smile vanished and Adriana leaned forward, putting her face on the table, thinking, _Well, that's embarrassing._

"What's the matter with you?" Jayden demanded.

"Shut up, Sunshine," Adriana said. She knew she was overreacting over the feather thing. She could just hear her mother saying, " _grow up, Adriana._ " She rolled her eyes.

"Now is not the time for napping, Miss Frost," Professor Flitwick said.

"Sorry, Professor," Adriana said lifting her head, "just a headache."

"Your father and brother always said the same thing to get out of class. That is, when they bother to show up," Professor Flitwick said, smiling before walking away.

"Great, my dad's a murderer and a truant," Adriana muttered. Her brother was unwilling to learn, even in his favourite class and was dead, her mother hates her, and Adriana murdered her brother. They were the perfect square of dysfunction. She noticed Jayden was giving her a strange look, "What do you want, Sunshine?"

"To have the feather," Jayden said. Adriana grabbed it and passed it to him.

After class was over, Adriana walked with Harry and Ron. Ron seemed to be in a foul mood.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her!" Ron ranted to Adriana and Harry. "She's a nightmare, honestly."

Harry stumbled into Adriana as someone bumped into him as they hurried by.

Adriana noticed that it was Hermione, because she recognized that bushy hair anywhere.

"I think she heard you," Harry said.

"So?" replied Ron, but he looked a little uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"I mean that's no reason to be rude to her," replied Adriana.

* * *

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class, so Adriana decided to go check on the bushy-haired know-it-all. She hurried down the hallway after class and ran into Jayden, nearly knocking him over.

"Watch where you're going, Sunshine," Adriana snapped at him.

"How about you watch it, Brat?" snapped Jayden.

"Don't call me Brat," Adriana snapped, remembering how Ryan used to call her that. She wasn't in the mood for trading barbs with him anyway.

She found the lavatory and walked in. She heard sniffling in one of the stalls and knocked on the door. "Hermione?"

"Go away!" ordered Hermione.

"Hermione, it's nothing to be upset over," Adriana said.

"Easy for you to say. You haven't been insulted," Hermione said.

"Believe me, I have," Adriana said. _A lot more than you know,_ she added silently. _Especially from my mother._ "Just a few minutes again, Hayes called me a brat. And I bet my whole family's Gringotts vault that he said a lot worse behind my back."

Hermione was silent and then quietly said, "He has."

"I knew it," Adriana muttered. She rolled her eyes.

"But he hasn't called you a nightmare," Hermione said. "Why do you hang out with Harry and Ron?"

"Because…" Adriana started and trailed off. "Harry once invited me to have tea with Hagrid, because he thought I was all mopey. I can't exactly spend time with Flora and Hestia, since they're in Slytherin."

"How can you stand it?" Hermione asked.

Adriana was confused, "Stand what?"

"Stand being insulted," Hermione asked.

Adriana thought about it, "I have—had—have a brother. He would call me, 'Big Mouth,' 'Cry Baby,' 'Whiner', 'Brat', and all those things."

"That's terrible," Hermione said.

 _Not as terrible as what my mother calls me,_ Adriana thought. "It's a sibling thing, you know?"

"No," Hermione said. "I don't have any siblings."

"I'm sorry," said Adriana.

"For what?" asked Hermione.

"Not having that type of relationship in your life," replied Adriana.

"I'll be okay," said Hermione.

The bell rang.

"You better get to class," said Hermione.

"I'm going to be like my dad and brother and skip it," said Adriana.

"What's your brother like?" asked Hermione. "It sounds like you think highly of him."

"He…" Adriana started, feeling her breath catch. "He was that weird mix of protective and… 'only I get to insult you' type of thing. He said that he respects my privacy, yet he would read my journal. He would recite my poems at me and he would criticise them."

"That's rude," said Hermione.

Adriana shrugged, "I think that's what brothers do. He told me that our mother was ashamed of our dad getting sent to Azkaban, and that's why she had moved us out in the woods." She was still sure that her mother was more ashamed of Adriana than their dad getting sent to Azkaban.

"Why did your dad get sent to Azkaban?" Hermione asked.

"He…he killed two Muggles," Adriana said.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Adriana said. "Mother and he had a fight, and he took off. Maybe he was just having a bad day and took it out on them, I don't know. In a way, I'm kind of ashamed of it."

"Don't be," Hermione said. Adriana nodded, even though Hermione can't see it. "You know, thanks for checking on me."

"No problem," Adriana said, sitting down on the floor. She put her back to the door and pulled her knees up. She hoped that if Ryan was alive and she was in Hermione's place, Ryan would've checked in on her. Or at least, send someone to check up on her.

She took her journal out of her bag and opened it. She turned to a page and took out her quill and inkwell. She wrote:

 _October 31, 1991  
_

 _Hayes called me a brat today. I told him not to call me that because Ryan called me that. Chances are, Hayes will keep calling me that, because he knew that it got to me. Well, I better get used to the Brat Brigade he's probably going to throw at me._

 _—_ _A.F_

"Are you writing?" asked Hermione.

"I just finished," replied Adriana. She closed her journal and put it in her bag.

"What happened to your brother?" Hermione asked.

"He…died," replied Adriana, feeling tears come to her eyes. "I was eight and he had just turned thirteen because it was midnight when it happened."

Parvati Patil walked in and looked at Adriana, who quickly wiped her eyes. She couldn't cry for Ryan, after all, she had killed him. Parvati said, "I just wanted to see if the both of you were okay."

"Can you please leave us alone?" asked Adriana smiling to show that she was fine.

Parvati nodded and left the toilets.

"Who was that?" asked Hermione.

"Parvati," Adriana said.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your brother," Hermione said. "It must've been hard, losing him at eight."

"It's okay," Adriana said. She couldn't—didn't—want to tell Hermione about the whole story. It was even more shameful than her dad killing two Muggles.

* * *

Adriana stayed in the girls' toilets with Hermione up until dinner. Hermione stayed in the stall the entire time.

"You can go down to the Hallowe'en feast, Adriana," Hermione said. "I'll be okay."

Adriana didn't want to go, just in case Parvati told Lavender about how Adriana was found crying. She didn't want to see how smug Jayden would be with him calling her a brat drove her to tears. That would be embarrassing, even though she could say that it used to be Ryan's favourite holiday.

She decided not to go down to the feast. There was always next year. That was if the professors decided not to expel her after finding out she killed Ryan or if she wasn't good enough. So, she sat there and stared at the ground, trying to count the tiles. She kind of regretted not going down to the feast because she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

She was sure that she heard a door close on them.

"Hey, do you think we should at least go to the Hallowe'en feast? We might be able to make it," Adriana said. "We should at least eat something."

Hermione was silent and said, "All right." She left the stall and they went to the sinks. However a terrible smell hit Adriana and they turned to find the source.

There was a twelve foot tall, dull granite grey, and lumpy body troll standing there, staring at them. It was holding a huge, wooden club.

They screamed at the sight of the troll and backed up. Hermione grabbed Adriana's arm and backed into the stall that she had vacated. Hermione locked it and there was a ripping sound and they both hit the ground as the troll destroyed the tops of the stalls with it's club.

"Adriana! Hermione! Move!" shouted Harry.

They tried to move but the troll hit more stalls, getting them covered in debris. Hermione screamed and yelled for help.

Adriana looked to see Harry and Ron throwing chunks of wood at the troll.

"Hey, peanut brain!" shouted Ron, throwing a chunk of wood right into the troll's face.

The troll turned to look at them, which served a good enough distraction. Hermione crawled over to the sinks into the corner and Adriana crawled over to the boys. The troll looked at Adriana and Hermione, but then chose Hermione. He went to the sinks and smashed his club through a sink, narrowly missing Hermione, who tried to crawl forward.

"Help!" shouted Hermione at the boys.

Harry took out his wand and ran forward, as the troll swung the club upwards. He grabbed the club and was lifted in the air. He slid off and landed on the troll's neck. Right as he did so, his wand went up the troll's nose. The club crashed down, again narrowly missing Hermione. The troll made a confused grunting sound and started flailing its head.

Adriana got up from the ground, stood by Ron, and and picked up a chunk of wood. She threw it at the troll. She didn't want to be that eight-year-old girl who did nothing while Ryan took on that hag.

The troll turned and somehow managed to grab Harry as it shook its head as it tried to dislodge the wand. The troll held Harry upside down.

"Do something!" Harry shouted as the troll swung its club. However the troll lifted Harry up higher, so the club missed him.

Ron looked around the toilets and held up his hands, "Do what?"

"Anything!" Harry shouted and Adriana picked up some wood. The troll swung with its club and missed Harry again. Adriana wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to throw the chunk at the troll, but she didn't want to hit Harry. What should she do?

"Hurry up!" ordered Harry.

"Swish and flick!" Hermione shouted.

Ron took out his wand and swished and flicked it, " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

The club flew out of the troll's hand, right as it swung it. The troll made a confused sound and Adriana looked at the floating club. It hovered there and then it fell right on the troll's head.

"Cool," said Ron.

The troll started swaying, and dropped Harry. Adriana ran over and grabbed him. She pulled him up and they backed up as the troll stumbled their way. Adriana tripped on some random debris and fell on her butt. The troll fell and landed right on Adriana's abdomen and right ankle. Her breath left her as her ribs and ankle broke. She gasped and struggled to breath.

Harry and Ron were by her side, moving the troll's head. Ron helped her to her feet, which was hard, as she struggled to get her breath back and tried to regain her balance. She had to hold onto Ron's shoulder as she tried to balance on one foot.

"Is it…dead?" asked Hermione sounding tentative.

"I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out." He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It emerged covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

Harry made a disgusted sound, "Troll bogies." He wiped his wand off on the troll's trousers.

There was sudden slamming and loud footsteps which made them look up. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had burst into the room, followed by Snape, and Quirrell came bringing up the rear. Quirrell looked at the troll, whimpered, and sat down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape bent over the troll, while Professor McGonagall was looking at the two boys and Adriana. Professor McGonagall looked furious, because her lips were white.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" demanded Professor McGonagall, sound furious. She examined Adriana, "You're lucky that you weren't killed, Frost. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Adriana looked at the ground and started feeling sick. She had to lean on Ron.

"Get yourself to the hospital wing, Frost," Professor McGonagall said.

"She broke her ankle," Harry said.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall said. Professor Quirrell ended up taking Adriana to the hospital wing, even though Quirrell looked faint himself.

It was an interesting journey, with Adriana hobbling alongside Quirrell. She couldn't help noticing how in the flickering candles and the flashing lightning, Quirrell looked kind of sinister. Adriana had to shove that to the side because Quirrell was terrified of an unconscious troll and terrified of his students. Besides, she was sure that she looked sinister too, once someone got past the ill look on her face.

She had to stop to catch her breath. This guy was walking fast. "Um, Professor?"

Quirrell stopped, turned and looked at her. For a few seconds, it looked like the professor looked disgusted. She pushed that thought to the side because her mother always looked at her like that.

Quirrell walked over and picked her up bridal style. Adriana felt her eyes water, due to the smell of garlic and pain. Quirrell carried her down to the hospital wing, and Adriana couldn't be sure if he was intentionally jostling her ribs with every steps. It made Adriana feel a little better knowing that her messenger bag was hitting Quirrell in the knees.

By the time they reached the hospital wing, Adriana had tears rolling down her cheeks.

Quirrell set her on a bed and Madam Pomfrey came over immediately.

The two adults had a hushed conversation and then Quirrell left as Madam Pomfrey tended to Adriana.

"You know, your brother had his fair share of scrapes," Madam Pomfrey said. Adriana nodded not sure how to respond. "Now, which side did your ribs break?"

"Right," whispered Adriana.

Madam Pomfrey held her wand over the eleven-year-old and muttered some spells, which made Adriana's ribs feel warm.

"Which ankle?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"Right," replied Adriana.

Madam Pomfrey went to Adriana's ankle and held the wand over Adriana's ankle, muttering some more spells, which made Adriana's foot feel warm.

Madam Pomfrey prodded the first year and muttered to herself. She looked at Adriana, "You're all healed, dear. I'll keep you in overnight. You had a troll fall on top of you, after all."

Adriana nodded and Madam Pomfrey handed the first-year a set of pajamas and closed the curtain around her for privacy. Adriana changed out of her clothes and into the pajamas. She pulled the curtains back and laid on the bed.

Madam Pomfrey returned holding a tray with some food. She set it down in front of Adriana. "Eat, I've been told that you haven't been to the Hallowe'en feast."

Adriana muttered her thanks and ate the food. She really wanted the day to end already. After that Madam Pomfrey took the tray, closed the curtains, and walked away.

Adriana laid back on the bed and wondered if any of her friends would show up tomorrow to speak with her. Somehow she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Adriana wasn't supposed to end up in the hospital wing, but then I decided that the universe isn't done using Adriana as a punching bag. Or more specifically, I'm not done torturing the poor girl.


	8. Quidditch

A/N: I apologize for the hiatus on this story. I was busy writing out Darkest Before the Hope because my muse was with that story.

* * *

Chapter 7: **Quidditch**

* * *

"She's still asleep," someone whispered.

"No, I think I saw her twitch," another person whispered. Their voice was a little louder.

"That's because you can't whisper, Loud Mouth," the other person whispered.

Adriana opened her eyes to see Flora and Hestia standing at the side of her bed. "No, you both don't know how to whisper. That troll was a lot quieter than you two."

Flora hit Hestia upside the head, "I told you that you can't whisper."

Adriana couldn't help but smile at that. She wondered if she and Ryan would act like that if he was alive. She tried to push that thought aside. She noticed how the Carrow twins had their arms behind their backs. "Why are your arms behind your backs?"

Hestia held out a package of Nougat Chunks and Flora held out a package of Crystallised Pineapple. "We just brought you some sweets because we thought it would make you feel better."

"Thanks," Adriana said taking the sweets from her friends. She motioned for them to sit down.

"We heard you wrestled a troll," Flora said as they sat down on the bed.

"Not really," Adriana said and explained what happened.

"Gryffindors," Hestia muttered. "All brawn and no brain."

Adriana couldn't argue with that.

* * *

The next day, Adriana was finally let out of the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey kept her in for one more day because Adriana had a troll fall on her, so Madam Pomfrey wanted to make sure everything was in working condition.

Her ribs and ankle were still a little stiff, but it was tolerable. She made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast and hoped that the world wouldn't throw anything else at her for a month or so.

When she walked in the Great Hall, a older Gryffindor girl yelled, "Oi! You over there!"

Adriana was momentarily terrified. The older student surely must've figured out that Adriana had stood by and let the hag kill Ryan. Now it was going to be revealed to most of the students.

"How dare you steal my boyfriend?" the Gryffindor shouted stomping up to Adriana. "I oughta hex you real good for—" She stopped and looked down at Adriana. The older Gryffindor held up her hand to shoulder length, which was probably a good four inches taller than Adriana. The older student placed her hand on Adriana's head. "Sorry." She turned and walked away.

Adriana hurried to the Gryffindor table and sat at the end. She didn't need to look up to know that some students were staring at her. She got some toast and marmalade. She spread the marmalade on the toast.

"So, how's how the troll wrestler doing?" a cheery voice said.

Adriana looked up to see Fred and George Weasley. She sighed, "I didn't wrestle a troll. It fell on me."

"No, no," George said. "You wrestled a troll."

"It—" Adriana started and stopped. She realized that they were trying to make her seem tougher than she really was. Having a troll fall on her was kind of embarrassing. She frowned, "All right, I wrestled a troll."

"Awfully big for a short person, right, George?" said Fred.

"I'm not short," Adriana snapped.

"Right, Fred," replied George ignoring Adriana's comment.

"Wait, why are you talking to me?" Adriana asked.

"We can't talk to someone who got yelled at by Morgan?" asked Fred.

Adriana sighed, "I guess you can. And don't call me short."

"Aw, why?" asked Fred. "Is little Addy going to hex us?"

Adriana balled her hands up, "And don't call me that."

* * *

One thing that Adriana was sort of looking forward to was the game of Quidditch. It was Slytherin versus Gryffindor. She took a pair of binoculars and walked with Hestia and Flora to the Quidditch pitch.

"What do you expect to get for Christmas?" Flora asked Adriana.

Adriana was taken aback at the question. "Oh, I'm not really expecting anything." The twins gave her a strange look. Adriana grew uncomfortable. "You two don't have to get me anything for Christmas. I'll be fine." Flora and Hestia glanced at each other. "Or for my birthday."

They continued walking and split up so they can go to their respective stands. Adriana spotted Neville and sat down next to him. Seamus, Dean, and unfortunately Jayden, were in the row above them

"Hello, Neville," Adriana said trying to ignore Jayden. "How are you this fine afternoon?"

Neville seemed a little confused. "I'm doing good. How about you?"

"As fine as I can be, after having a troll—I mean after wrestling a troll," Adriana said, remembering the Weasley twins telling her to say that she wrestled a troll. Hermione and Ron joined them, holding a banner that looked strangely like a sheet that had been chewed on.

"What's with the…er…sheet?" Adriana said.

"It's for Harry," Hermione said unfolding the banner. It said: _Potter for President_. There was a large Gryffindor lion underneath the words. The paint was flashing different colours.

"Impressive," Adriana said.

"I drew the Gryffindor lion," Dean said.

Adriana looked at him and smiled, "Your drawing skills is amazing."

Dean smiled back, "Thanks."

"I did a tricky little charm to make the paint change colours," Hermione said smiling widely.

"Oh, that's…great," Adriana said biting back a frown. Hermione frowned slightly.

Adriana looked down as the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams assembled on the pitch. Madam Hooch was refereeing and she was holding her broom. She spoke to the teams, but looked at the Slytherins more. The teams mounted their brooms and Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her whistle.

The brooms rose up high in the air and they were off.

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing commentary. "And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor—what an excellent that girl is, and rather attractive, too—"

"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall admonished.

"Sorry, Professor," Lee Jordan said.

Adriana rolled her eyes and watched as Angelina passed the Quaffle to the other Chaser, who was apparently Alicia Spinnet, who was the reserve last year. Alicia was apparently a good friend of Oliver Wood's, the Gryffindor captain and Keeper.

The Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint took the Quaffle and went off towards the goal posts. Flint threw the Quaffle but Oliver blocked it.

As the match went on, Adriana was growing bored. She looked at Neville and jokingly asked, "Do you think I could make it on the Quidditch team?"

"No," replied Jayden.

In a dry tone, Adriana responded, "Thanks, Sunshine."

If she liked Quidditch and joined the team, Adriana figured that she was bound to mess something up which would get kicked off if she joined the team. It was fine with her, she didn't want to hear her mother laugh if she did make it on the Quidditch team. Besides, she'll probably score for the opposite team, repeatedly.

She cringed as the other Chaser, Katie Bell, got hit in the back of the head by a Bludger. There was another reason why she wouldn't want to be on the Quidditch team. Injuries.

"I think you can make it on the Quidditch team," Neville told Adriana.

Adriana gave him a genuine smile, "Thanks, Neville."

The Slytherins had the Quaffle again and the Chaser, Adrian Pucey, had sped off towards the goalposts, but he was blocked by a Bludger that was sent his way by Fred or George. Angelina ended up back in possession of the Quaffle and she dodged a Bludger.

"I don't see any sign of the Snitch," Adriana said as Gryffindor scored. She cheered but quieted down.

Slytherin was back in possession and Pucey had to duck two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Katie, but he dropped the Quaffle when Lee Jordan mentioned something about the Snitch.

Adriana held her breath when Harry and the Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs raced for the Snitch.

She urged Harry to get it and groaned when Marcus Flint rammed into Harry. "That's a foul!" She wasn't the only one yelling foul.

Madam Hooch spoke to Flint.

"Send him off, ref! Red card!" Dean Thomas yelled.

"This isn't football, Dean," Ron said.

"People aren't sent off in Quidditch," Adriana told Dean.

"What's a red card?" Ron asked.

Lee Jordan said some more commentary about Flint's cheating and Professor McGonagall yelling at him, he continued commentating. Alicia put the Quaffle away with no problem.

"You know, Harry could've been knocked off his broom," said Neville.

"Yes, but that's something he sort of signed up for," Adriana said.

The game continued with Slytherin in possession with Flint having the Quaffle. He ended up getting hit in the face with a Bludger, which Adriana cringed at. Slytherin scored and Adriana spotted Harry, who was flying slowly higher. It was jerking and twitching.

"What's Harry doing?" Adriana asked, pointing. She gasped when Harry rolled over and over. She almost jumped when Neville suddenly pressed his face in her shoulder, moaning.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"No," Adriana piped up. "Nothing can't interfere with a broom, except very powerful Dark Magic. I highly doubt that Flint can do it."

Hermione grabbed Adriana's binoculars and looked into the crowd of professor.

Ron moaned, "What are you doing?"

"I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape—look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars and looked through them.

"What is Snape doing?" Adriana asked.

"He's doing something—jinxing the broom," replied Hermione.

Before Adriana could even say that Snape could be muttering a countercurse, Ron asked, "What should we do?"

"Leave it to me," Hermione said running off.

Ron turned to binoculars onto the sky.

"Is Harry okay?" Adriana asked growing anxious.

"So far," Ron said. "Looks like my brothers are trying to pull him onto one of their brooms but Harry's Nimbus is flying out of their reach." He muttered, "Come on, Hermione."

Neville started sobbing and Adriana felt very conflicted. She wanted to shove Neville away and tell him to stop and be brave, but she also felt the weird need to tell him that Harry was going to be okay.

Whatever was going on stopped, because Ron said, "Neville, you can look!" He passed Adriana her binoculars and it looked like someone was speeding towards the ground.

Neville tried to pull himself together as Harry landed and pitched onto all fours.

Adriana cringed, "Oh, he looks like he's going to be sick." She dropped the binoculars and covered her eyes.

The audience cheered and Adriana heard, "Gryffindor wins by one hundred and seventy points to sixty!"

Adriana was confused. Harry was waving the Snitch above his head. They ran down onto the pitch, although she was sure Jayden pushed her to the side. She narrowed her eyes after him, feeling a strange rush of anger and having the strong urge to hex him for that. She paused on the steps and wondered where that thought came from.

She managed to find Hestia and Flora in the crowd and waved at them. They managed to convene, although the Carrow twins were looking slightly disgruntled.

"Did you see what was happening to Harry's broom?" Adriana asked.

"Yeah, what was _up_ with that?" Hestia asked and grinned. Flora just shook her head.

Adriana was confused, "What?"

"' _Up?_ ' You know, because he was _up_ in the air?" Hestia stated. "A pun?" Adriana just stared at Hestia. Hestia crossed her arms, "Mum and Dad find them funny."

"They laugh because they don't want to be rude and say that your puns are terrible," Flora said.

Hestia scowled, "Rude."

Adriana couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Later at dinner, Harry and Ron had managed to get Adriana to sit with them and Hermione.

"What do you know about Nicolas Flamel?" Ron asked Adriana.

Adriana looked at her food, although her thoughts had travelled back round on the thought of wanting to hex Jayden. "I don't know. I know that I heard of the name somewhere, but I can't remember. Why?"

"Well, that three-headed dog is guarding something that's between Flamel and Dumbledore," Ron said.

"How do you know that?" asked Adriana.

Harry explained to her about their conversation down at Hagrid's hut, and how Hermione saw Snape staring, unblinking, up at Harry on his broom during the Quidditch game. They had told Hagrid about how Snape was trying to get past the three-headed dog, whose name was apparently Fluffy, on Hallowe'en, and how Fluffy bit Snape. And whatever the three-headed dog was guarding was top secret.

"So, what exactly is Fluffy guarding and what does Nicolas Flamel have to do with it?" Adriana wondered.


	9. Christmas Is Coming

A/N: Sorry for the very long hiatus. It was because I had writer's block.

* * *

Chapter 8: **Brace Yourself, Christmas Is Coming**

* * *

As the month turned into December, Adriana had made a list of gift ideas.

 _1\. The Decline of Pagan Magic by Bathilda Bagshot (For Hayes? Hermione?)  
_ _2\. Book of Potions by Zygmunt Budge (For Flora)  
_ _3\. A shirt? (For Hayes?)  
_ _4\. Socks (For Hayes?)  
_ _5\. Sweets (For Harry and Ron)_

She really didn't have to buy Jayden a gift, but she wanted to confuse the boy with the random act of kindness.

One morning in mid-winter, she had woken up to see that Hogwarts was covered in several feet of snow and the lake had frozen solid.

She had heard that the Weasley twins had gotten in trouble for bewitching snowballs to bounce off the back of Quirrell's turban. She would've found it funny, but she felt a little bad for the stuttering man, although she still held a little grudge from Quirrell purposely jostling her broken ribs on Hallowe'en. The previous week, Professor McGonagall had gone around making a list of students who were going to stay behind.

Harry had signed up at once, but Adriana had signed up at the last minute. On one hand, she wanted to be there for her mother, so she didn't have to spend Christmas alone, but on the other hand, Adriana knew that she was going to be ignored by Beatrix for the entire holiday, something that she couldn't deal with, considering she had the entire summer to be ignored ahead of her.

While the Gryffindor common room had a fire going, the halls were drafty and cold. The worst one of all was Snape's classroom, because Adriana, Flora, and Hestia huddled close to their cauldrons just to stay warm.

One day in Potions, Malfoy said, "I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." Malfoy had been looking at Harry, but for some reason, the comment ,stung Adriana. Harry ignored the comment and Hestia prodded Adriana to keep stirring the potion.

They left the dungeons after class was over.

"I wish you could come stay with us for the holidays," Hestia told Adriana as they climbed up the steps to leave the dungeons.

"Yeah, it would've been great. Mum and Dad would love to meet you," Flora said.

Adriana felt touched at that. "Wait. How do they know me?"

"We told them about you," Hestia said, like it should've been obvious. "Have you told your mum about us?"

Adriana noticed how the Carrow twins looked eager and excited, and she would've felt bad telling them that no, she hadn't, because she was worried that her mother would've written to them about why they shouldn't be friends with her. Although she was sure that her mother would've written to Harry, Ron, and Hermione just as well.

Adriana hesitated and said, "I have a…complicated sort of relationship with my mother, so I can't really tell her anything. I would have told her about you two if—"

"If it wasn't complicated," the Carrow twins finished at the same time.

Adriana nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, that's okay," Hestia said. "Maybe someday our parents can get together and talk."

 _That day would be never,_ Adriana thought. She nodded, "Yeah, someday."

They accepted that answer.

* * *

After a few weeks of pondering, Adriana finally settled on getting Hermione the book _The Decline of Pagan Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot. She settled on getting Flora the _Book of Potions_ by Zygmunt Budge since Flora seemed to love Potions class and Adriana got her a red beanie that had _Wigtown Wanderers_ on it in cursive, since Flora was a fan of the Quidditch team. She got Hestia a shirt that had something to do with the band the Weird Sisters and a green scarf with silver stars on it. She even decided to get Jayden the book _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_ because she figured that he would like to an overview of the educational system, since he was Muggle-born. She also wanted to confuse him with the random act of kindness.

She used a school owl to send out the order, since she didn't feel like asking Flora and Hestia if she can borrow Pagan.

When Adriana got back to the common room, she went to one of her favourite tables which was near the window and sat down. She opened a book that she checked out from the library to look through. She had flipped a few pages when someone sat in the chair across from her and she looked up to see that it was Ron.

"What are you expecting for Christmas?" asked Ron, sounding curious.

Adriana blinked and shook her head at that. "Nothing."

Ron seemed confused, "But your mother—"

"Is a very busy woman who has no time for such trivialities," lied Adriana. Even she was impressed at how quickly she had rattled that off.

"But it's Christmas," replied Ron still sounding confused over that.

Adriana shrugged, "We really don't celebrate it in our manor."

Ron asked, "What about your brother?"

"My brother's dead!" Adriana snapped growing irritated over the questions.

The common room had quieted down a little and Adriana realized that she had said it to loudly, because she had attracted half of the common room's interest. She could've sworn she saw a look of pity from Jayden, who was sitting with Lavender Brown, who were a few tables away.

Adriana looked at Ron, who looked so pale, his freckles stood out. In a quieter tone, Adriana said, "He died when I was eight. Got killed by a hag. He just turned thirteen." She grabbed her book and bag, before heading upstairs to the dormitory. She flopped down on her bed and buried her face in the pillow. They didn't need to know the whole story, she knew that they would look at her differently and that they would most likely wouldn't be her friend anymore.

It felt odd having friends. She thought it would be easy, having someone to talk to and spend time with, and share her deepest, darkest secrets with, but if they knew, they wouldn't be her friend anymore. Having friends was both a blessing and a curse.

She sat up and took out her journal and flipped it to a page. She really needed to get a new one soon.

She started to write:

December 7th, 1991  
3:33 p.m.

Before she can even write, the dormitory door burst open and Hermione walked in.

"I'm so sorry about Ron," Hermione started.

Adriana shrugged, "It's fine. He didn't know." She added, "No one knew." She was sure that it was going to be all over school.

"Besides me," Hermione added.

"Besides you," replied Adriana. She thought about it and added, "You, Flora, and Hestia.

"Ron's…" Hermione started and faltered, "a bit insensitive."

"I know," Adriana replied. "My pride is still a bit bruised from having a troll fall on me due to Ron's insensitivity."

"I remember," Hermione said quietly.

Adriana nodded and looked at her journal. "I wish I couldn't."

Hermione looked at the journal, "You really need to get a new one."

Adriana looked at Hermione. "I know. I'm just waiting to see if something nicer in the catalogs comes along."

Hermione nodded, as if that was an acceptable answer. She frowned, "You don't celebrate Christmas with your mother?"

Adriana shook her head. Her mother used to go all out for Ryan, which ended when Ryan died, but that was hard to explain, especially when she lied to Ron about the reason. "Not really. She works in the Department of Mysteries. They're really busy people."

Hermione studied Adriana, as if trying to spot a lie, but apparently she couldn't find a hint of one in Adriana. She nodded, "I'll tell Ron to be a bit more considerate next time, okay?"

Adriana shrugged, "It doesn't really bother me."

"It should," Hermione stated firmly.

"I don't want to turn into one of those girls that cries at every slight insult or get upset at every slight insensitivity shown to them," Adriana stated.

Hermione looked at Adriana, "That's not what I meant. I meant that you shouldn't just brush off everything bad that happens to you."

Adriana sighed, "Well, there are times when you should just keep your mouth shut when dealing with people like that, just to stay out of trouble."

Hermione looked at her in curiosity. "You just can't be like that all the time."

Adriana flipped through the journal pages. "I handled it. Probably not the way that you wanted, but I handled it." She pulled the hangings around her. "I'm sorry, but I'm tired of this conversation."

Adriana listened to Hermione standing there for a few minutes, before the dormitory door opened and closed, leaving her alone. She scratched out the time and rewrote it:

3:50 p.m.

 _Having friends is a blessing and curse. It's nice that they care about you, but it gets tiring and annoying when they keep poking and prodding at you. It's nice that they care, but sometimes they need to know when to back off at times. They're nice to talk to, and then sometimes they just want to talk at the most inconvenient time._

— A.F.

She set her quill aside and blew a strand of brown hair out of her face. She thought about it and turned her journal sideways to write in the margin:

 _17 more days till Christmas._ _Happy bloody Christmas to me._

After writing, she closed her journal, capped her ink bottle, and proceeded to fall backwards on her bed.


	10. Christmas Has Arrived

A/N: I apologize for the hiatus, also this chapter might be short.

* * *

Chapter 9: **Christmas Has Arrived**

* * *

It was Christmas day when Adriana woke up. She was surprised to see a pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She got up and looked through them. There were presents from Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hestia, and Flora. She wasn't surprised to see that her mother hadn't given her anything although she was surprised to see that she had a strange lumpy present from Mrs Weasley.

Tears started pouring down her cheeks. It was the first presents she had received in three years. And they look _new_ too. She was glad that she was the only first-year in the dorm, because she would have to explain why she was crying over presents.

She opened Mrs Weasley's first and took out a red jumper that looked handmade. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever received. She pulled it on and hugged it close to herself. It was a little big, but she didn't care. She could tell that it was made with love, despite Mrs Weasley not knowing anything about her.

She opened the book shaped present, which was a red leather journal that had a note stuck in between the cover and the leather cord that was wrapped around the journal to keep it closed. She took the note and opened it.

 _I noticed that you needed a new journal since you were running out of paper.  
_ _Here you go.  
_ _Hope you have a Happy Christmas.  
_ _\- Flora_

Adriana set the note aside and looked at the cover. It had a Celtic dragon on the cover with its wings spread. There was a leather cord wrapped around the journal to keep it closed. From the looks of it, there was a lot of parchment in it. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever received.

She set it aside, telling herself that she would write in it later.

Hestia had gotten her a few bottles of red ink and more quills. Hestia's note said that the quills and ink were specifically for her writing since Hestia didn't want her to use up all her school supplies on writing in her journal.

Adriana felt touched that her friends had noticed how much she wrote. It was weird getting this many gifts when she usually ended up with two gifts, but that was before—

No. She wasn't going to think of it. Christmas was a time to be happy, so therefore she was going to make the most of it, before it was ruined.

She opened Hermione's gift, which was a new set of pyjamas. There was a red button down shirt with sleeping trousers that had star patterns on it. Adriana looked at her pyjamas, which had been thinning and fraying for a while now. There was even a hole beginning to form in one of the knees.

Adriana decided that she would like to thank all of her friends in person. All of her presents meant to much for her just to thank everyone in a letter.

She realised that she was going to be late for the Christmas dinner and hurriedly put all of her presents up and hurried out of the dorm room.

She almost ran into Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy who were about to leave the common room.

"Oh, look, Addy's got a Weasley jumper, too," said George.

Adriana wanted to snap at him not to call her that, but she took a deep breath and told herself that she wasn't going to mess up Christmas for everyone. "Tell Mrs Weasley that I said thank you for the jumper."

"Will do," said George. They walked to the Great Hall and found some seats at the table.

It was the biggest feast that Adriana had ever seen. There was a hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of boats of thick, rich gravy, and cranberry sauce. Most importantly, they had wizard crackers!

She got some chipolatas and some gravy. She didn't want to mess anything up, but she knew that she would mess things up somehow, probably by getting emotional.

"These don't look the ones that the Dursleys get," said Harry holding up a wizard cracker.

Adriana wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"Here, take one end," instructed Fred, holding a wizard cracker to Harry.

Adriana looked at Ron, who was currently eating turkey legs. She asked, "Hey, how come your mother made me a jumper?"

Ron's ears turned pink, "Oh, I may have told her that you and your mother don't celebrate Christmas and that you weren't expecting anything, so I guess she felt like you should have a Christmas present."

It was oddly touching that Ron had talked about her to his mother. Adriana said, "Oh, I'll write her a letter thanking her for it."

Ron nodded and Adriana figured that it was the end of their conversation.

* * *

As Adriana left the table, a little earlier than she expected, she was stopped by the Weasleys twins. She looked at them warily, wondering if they were going to call her Addy or call her short. "Yes?" she asked.

"We were going to ask if you wanted to join our snowball fight in the grounds this afternoon," said George.

"Sure," said Adriana. Maybe she could have something nice to put in her new journal.

"See you there," said Fred.

Adriana left the Great Hall and went up to the common room, got her scarlet and gold Gryffindor scarf and headed back down to the grounds.

The Weasleys and Harry were already heading there.

"Oi, Addy!" called Fred. "Over here!" He was waving her over and she joined the group.

"Hello, Adriana," said Percy in a rather pompous tone.

"Hi," said Adriana confused. From what she had managed to hear, the Weasleys were poor, but why did Percy talk pompously? She knew that her mother would tell her that it was none of her business.

"So, it's Harry and Addy against us," said George motioning to his brothers. He threw a snowball right at Adriana, which hit her in the side of the head, startling her.

Adriana grabbed snow and threw it at him, not caring if it missed. She was irritated by the Weasley twins' vehemence about calling her 'Addy' despite her telling them not to.

"Do you know how to make a snowball?" asked Harry confused.

"Yes, I'm not a prat!" snapped Adriana. She almost said 'Mother.'

Harry seemed to scrutinize her, as if he could figure out why she reacted oddly. "I didn't call you that. I was wondering if you knew how."

Adriana scooped up some snow and turned it into a snowball. She held it up to show Harry smugly. She got pelted with another snowball, making her drop her snowball. She shook her fist at the Weasleys. "It's on, Weasley!" She turned to Harry, "We can take them. I can make snowballs really fast, and you can throw them. Ryan and I used to have snowball fights all the time." They hurried a little ways away and Adriana started making snowballs as quickly as she can, while Harry threw them.

Even though Adriana kept getting pelted with snowballs, she found herself actually having fun.

* * *

After dinner which was turkey sandwiches, crumpets, and Christmas cake, Adriana had watched Percy chase after Fred and George since Percy's prefect badge. After growing tired of that, Adriana retreated to the dormitory.

She changed into her pyjamas and threw herself onto her bed. She realised that she had a great Christmas for the first time in years. She didn't ruin anyone's holiday, so that was a bonus. It made her feel better and with that, she fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: If Adriana looked in the Mirror of Erised, she would see her dad, Ryan, and her mother hugging her, looking really proud of Adriana because she was made Head Girl. Adriana would've most likely burst into tears, knowing that it was never going to happen.


End file.
